


Romeo Conbolt: Fiery Hurricane of Love

by chaosphoenix123



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-06-10 18:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 95,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6968806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosphoenix123/pseuds/chaosphoenix123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is... complicated; especially when your guild decides that your love life is a means for their own entertainment. Romeo has on one hand Chelia; his current girlfriend and famous pop idol. On the other hand he has Wendy; a former crush and his teammate. The more the two interact with one another, the stronger the winds of love grow. The guilds are placing bets and picking sides, all while sinister forces begin to work from within the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**The Offer**

**X784**

**The ruins of the city of Gitora, on the furthest eastern edge of the Pergrande Kingdom**

In a city devastated by an unknown powerful force in days long pasted, there wasn't a soul to be found. Potential looters and scavengers avoid the city like the plague for the rumors of it being haunted by the spirits of the dead were not entirely unfounded. Entire expeditions into this lost city would vanish without a trace to the point where the Pergrande Kingdom declared it off-limits to everyone and even posted a military blockade of the area around it.

But in the destroyed remains of Gitora's city hall, a lone cloaked figure lurked about as he wrote down words on a black chalkboard and the floor was littered with his notes.

"They called me mad!", the man ranted to no one in particular, "Me! How dare they called me mad and then have the audacity to punish me?!" I''ll show them all! I'll show them that I was right all along! We don't need them, we don't need any of them! We were doing just fine before they came!"

The man turns toward a large map that covered the entire wall of the room. He had four separate countries scattered throughout the four corners of the world "X" out, but he was more focus on the one that was circle in the center of the map.

"Soon it won't matter anymore! My eyes and ears tell me that the last one has finally been located, the final piece to my plans! Soon everything will be as it should! And then...they'll see with their own eyes that I was right and everything will be right in the world!"

As the man stare at the fifth country that was circle; one last verse escape his lips...

"I will find the last one in the country of Fiore and soon the suffering will all be over."

**X786**

**(Romeo age has been bumped up by a year, so he was 7 in X784. Also Tenrou happen two years ago.)**

Romeo sat outside the main office of Totomaru-Sensei while his dad and the former Fire Element Four had a parent-teacher conference.

 **"** _Did I do something wrong?"_ The boy asks himself, **"** _Totomaru-sensei said he wanted to see my dad later on today after I past the magic test this morning."_

As the boy sat outside; a strange feeling washed over him.

 **"** _That feels… funny, somehow it feels like I felt this before, but why?",_ Romeo thought as he notices that the feeling was coming from inside the office, **"** _I been sitting out in front of Totomaru-Sensei office dozens of times before and I never once felt this before."_

**Inside the Totomaru's Office**

"What are you trying to say Totomaru-sensei?", Macao Conbolt asked the former Phantom Lord now magic teacher inside of his office while a nine-year-old Romeo waited outside in the hall. For some reason, Totomaru-sensei wanted to see his dad for a parent-teacher conference.

"I'm saying your son has a talent for fire magic the likes of which I have never seen before and I'm one of the best fire mages around. He already mastered every type of flame I teach at this school and even the ones I usually don't teach. And to top it all off, he only started a few months ago." Totomaru explained, "In fact, his control over the flames is so amazing he created a bird out of fire just the other day, a bird. It was flying around the class and everything. The boy's a prodigy. He takes to fire magic like a fish takes to water. His degree of pyrokinesis is almost on a level that surpasses my own and at such a young age."

Macao sits in silence as he tries to comprehend everything he hearing now…

" _It's true Romeo has seemed to have master fire-based magic to such a degree that even learning how to perform Purple Flare only took him a week where it took me a year to do so. He also has such precise control over his flames. His ability to make them into creatures and objects is astonishing_ ", Macao thought before Totomaru's voice brought him back to reality.

"There's nothing left for me to teach your son and he still has a number of years left at this school. I feel that making him come to class is a waste of his talent and time when he could be out there doing job requests and further expanding his knowledge and experience", Totomaru stated,  
Granted he gets over his...condition. I would hate to see a repeat of what happen earlier this year."

"We're working on it", Macao tells him.

"That's great to hear", Totomaru says.

"But what this you're saying about him expanding his knowledge and experience? The only way for him to do that would be through jobs but the new laws pass by the Magic Council forbids anyone who is not of the age of fourteen or older from joining a guild", Macao pointed out.

"Yes, I am fully aware of that, but I have an alternate solution to that if you're willing to listen of course", Totomaru said as he reaches down and pulls up a large magic-infused metal container.

"What in the box?" Macao asked.

"This box as you so put it, is something I brought from home earlier today during the lunch period", Totomaru started to say as he points at it, "It contains an extremely rare item that my master, Professor Inferius, passed down to me as a parting gift right before he passed away. He said he came across it on his earlier travels in an ancient ruin of some sorts. You can consider it my congratulation gift to Romeo on behalf of him graduating from my school early and for being my best student."

"What's in it?" Macao asked.

"I cannot disclose that at this very moment", Totomaru says, "I will only tell you if you agree to accept it."

"Wow that sounds mighty suspicious", Macao commented.

"It's a very rare item and therefore if word got out that I have it, it could lead to problems further down the line", Totomaru explained, "My reputation as one of the former members of Phantom Lord's Element Four no longer deters people."

"Humph", Macao simply says, "Especially since the humiliating defeat you suffered at the hands of Natsu."

If the insult anger Totomaru in the slightest he did not show it on his face as he continued on with what he had to say.

"Say what you want, you have that right", Totomaru said as he takes a book out of his desk, "This here is a collection of all my master's notes written down throughout all his studies. Most of them are about fire magic in general. Seeing how he was the world leading professor on fire magic, I figure Romeo could use them. Take it or leave it, the choice is yours. But I do feel that this book will prove its usefulness down the line should you give it to Romeo. He seems to have a love for reading, though there is one little thing."

"What's that?"

"My master had quite a large section of his notes dedicated to the ruins from which he found this rare item. He copied everything he could down, but they're in a language that even he could not translate, and neither could I. They probably mean nothing, but just thought you should know."

Macao moves to speak when Totomaru stops him with a hand.

"But I also feel that there one more thing you should hear before you make your decision. A while ago I asked Romeo about what makes him try so hard. What is it that motivates him to want to be a fire mage? And you know what he told me?" Totomaru asked.

"What?" Macao asked.

"His exact words were that he wants to become a fire mage that would have made big brother Natsu proud."

Macao takes on a sullen look as the words play over in his head.

" _I want to restore Fairy Tail back to its former glory. And if what Totomaru-sensei is saying is true, whatever in this box could make that happen. But I have to ask myself, do I want this for Romeo's sake or my own_?"

Totomaru allows Macao some time to think it over before he starts talking again...

"Mr. Conbolt, I'm not going to lie to you. Your son has the potential to become one of the most gifted fire mages of our era if you just give him the chance and the opportunity. I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't believe it myself. But I must warn you, it's just like the old saying goes: If you play with fire; you're going to get burn."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

**Romeo has a girlfriend?!**

**Fairy Tail Guild Hall X791**

"Macao! Macao!" voice yells shaking Macao Conbolt out of his thoughts as he turns back to Master Makarov who was looking at him with a slightly worried expression on his face.

"Everything okay, my son?" he asked.

"Yes, everything fine. It just been a long seven years since you been gone and a lot has happened", Macao told him as he wonders back to that day five years ago.

"I can imagine", Makarov agreed, "It seems like only yesterday that we left for Tenrou and look how much has changed. Last time I remember Romeo was a seven-year-old brat always flocking around Natsu and his team and now look at him."

Macao looks over to where Gajeel, Lily, and Natsu were all crowded around a table as Romeo showed off his Rainbow Fire magic to them. Romeo had a smile plastered on his face, the likes of which was rare to see nowadays.

" _Well, sort of rare. There's only one person in the world who has made him smile like that these past years, or even laugh, but they're not here at the moment_ ", Macao chuckled to himself.

And Master Makarov wasn't the only person who noticed how much Romeo has grown.

Standing in the middle of the room, Fairy Tail residential matchmaker was giving Romeo the look-over with her hand on her chin and a mischievous look in her eyes.

" _Muscular build, charming personality, attractive face_ ", Mira thought before turning to look at the youngest dragon-slayer Fairy Tail had as she was talking to Reedus who handed her a drawing.

 _"Hmm, slim body, innocent personality, a bit shy, but is still a natural beauty_ ", she thought before coming to a decision.

" _Yes! I have found my next targets! Our two youngest members together, embrace in a storm of puppy love! What should I call this new couple? WeRom? Wenmeo? RoWen? Yes! RoWen it is_! I been out of the matchmaker game for a while but this will help me get back on track!", as she gave a fist-pump and stars appeared in her eyes, catching her sister's attention.

"Mira? Are you okay", she asked, though she knew full well what was going on in her sister's head, especially when she had that look in her eyes, she just didn't know who the targets were this time. Mira turns toward her with a smile that would have made the devil shit bricks.

"Oh nothing, I just see RoWen in the near future", she said.

"RoWen?" Lisanna thought before thinking the name over in her head, "Do you mean Wendy and Romeo?"

"You truly are my little sister!" Mira cried as she embraced her in a hug, "You make me so proud!"

"I learned from the best, big sis!" Lisanna responded as she hugs her back and Elfman could only watch in awkward silence as both of his sisters started to cry.

"Um Mira? Lisanna?" Bisca said nervously as she walked up to the Strauss siblings while they were still hugging, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I feel that as your friend and fellow guild member I should inform you why that's not going to work."

But before anyone could say another word the doors to the guild hall were slam open, revealing five figures standing in the doorway.

"Oh welcome!" a feminine voice yells out from curvaceous figure off to the side.

"Well, it looks like the gang's all here!" another voice booms, this time coming from the towering figure in the back.

"Who the hell are they?" Elfman says.

"Don't you recognize them?" Max asked, "That Lamia Scale!"

"LAMIA SCALE?!" Gray yells out, "Lyon's guild?!"

"That's right, both they and Blue Pegasus were a big help in finding Tenrou and keeping the guild open throughout the years", Wakaba explained as everyone started to exchange greetings. While they were doing this though Lily happens to notices that Romeo was starting to blush but also had a look of discomfort on his face.

"Are you okay?" the exceed asked.

"I'm fine, I am perfectly fine!" Romeo responded, while raising his voice a little

"Oookayy?" is all Lily could say as he notices Jura walk by on his way to see Master Makarov.

"Hey Jura", Romeo called out catching the giant attention.

"What is it young Romeo?" the Saint Wizards responded though Lily swore he had a smirk on his face. In fact, he started to notice a smirk on everyone face who wasn't at Tenrou, including Alzack's and Bisca's daughter, Asuka, which is kind of creepy when Lily stops and thinks about it. A six-year-old girl with a cowboy hat on is just sitting there smirking along with everyone else and he didn't know why. That kind of stuff was creepy.

"D-Did she comes with you?" the boy asked as his blush increased causing the giant to bellow out a laugh.

"But of course, she did! She wouldn't miss a chance to see you for the world! But since it's such a special occasion, she wanted to make sure she looked her best!" Jura answered as Lily looked on in confusion, as did the rest of the Tenrou group.

"Oh, joy is me", Romeo murmurs.

"Who's he talking about?" Mira asked.

"The person I wanted to tell you about", Bisca answered before another voice sounded from the doorway.

"Hello everyone! I like to welcome you home with all the love in my heart!" an amaranth pink-haired ponytail girl greeted as she walked into the room and all eyes turned to her.

"Who's that?" Lucy asked as the girl move toward the group.

"That is Chelia Blendy. One of the top mages at Lamia Scale and their Sky God-Slayer", Bisca started to introduce catching Wendy's attention in the process.

"She also happens to be one of the top singing idols on the entire continent whose albums have been dominating the charts for a year now and she's also my younger cousin", Sherry concluded.

Chelia moves pass the entire crowd, only stopping to give Asuka a hug before taking a seat next to the now violently blushing Romeo as her smile brighten the room, even though it was only directed at him.

"Did you miss me, my sweet little firefly?" she asked as she put her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together underneath her chin. She then proceeds to stare at him in a dreamy manner.

"No ", Romeo answered trying to sound annoyed but it was clear that he was lying, "And I hate that nickname."

"Aw, not even a little?" Chelia moaned as she started to rub her finger underneath his chin only for him to softly swat it away, "Because I missed you so much!"

"You were just here three days ago", Romeo said bluntly while looking away from her in embarrassment.

"But that was so long ago and my heart bleeds whenever I'm away from you!" Chelia gushed as she puts her hand on her chest and faked a pained expression.

"Don't you have a concert to get ready for?" Romeo asked, "Like one of your biggest ones to date if I recall correctly?"

"It's not for almost another week", Chelia says causing Romeo to roll his eyes.

"Oh joy", he murmured sarcastically.

"Can you make it to this one? It's in Haragon this time." Chelia says, her voice sounding a little worried, "I can find you a place away from the crowd where you can watch from. I can get you on stage off to the side behind the curtain."

"I'd rather not", Romeo states.

"Also I could cancel it too if it means I get to spend more time with you. Is that what you want?" Chelia asks.

"I rather you go to the concert", Romeo grumbled, "While I stay here."

Romeo turns to look at Chelia and her puppy eyes so full of hurt.

"I guess if that what you want", Chelia says as Romeo starts to see a teardrop form in her eye and realizes he gone too far.

"Okay fine, I'll go, but only if you'll stop bugging me about it", he sighs as he finally caves in.

Chelia's squeals shattered the eardrums of everyone presented in the guild hall as she groped Romeo with a bear hug and any traces of her being tearful were suddenly gone.

"Hey, what have I said about doing that?!" Romeo screamed as he struggles to break out of her grip.

"Booooo, don't be like that Romeo", Chelia whined as she let him go, "You were so romantic when we went on our date the other day with that picnic in the forest."

Romeo's blush intensifies after she says this for he was the one to suggest the idea and he stayed up almost the whole night beforehand preparing the food.

"Can I at least show you some of my love? Pleaseeeeee?" Chelia begs.

Romeo looked like he wanted to tell her no, but one more look into those puppy eyes was all it took for him to cave in.

"Fine, if it will make you stop embarrassing me ", he sighed as Chelia squeals once again and plants a quick kiss on his lips, shocking half the guild hall in the process while causing the other half to bust out laughing.

"You go, Romeo!" Jet yelled out while leaning on Droy for support as both of them were crying tears of laughter.

"I shall paint a picture to remember this occasion!" Reedus announced as he began to do so.

"S-S-Such an open display of affection", Erza stutters as her face starts to match her hair at Chelia "boldness".

"Aw, young love. I remember when Bisca and I were like that", Alzack reminisce causing Max and Nab to stare at him with looks of confusion.

"Were they ever like that?" Nab whispers to Max.

"Not that I remember", Max said as he turns his attention back to Bisca and the Strauss siblings...

"Oh, and did we fail to mention that she been Romeo's girlfriend going on almost half a year now?", Bisca smiled as she watches Mira fall to the ground with a shocked look on her face, "Though he still hasn't gotten use to the whole public display of affection bit yet, or having a girlfriend for that matter. I mean I had to suggest the whole picnic-in-the-forest idea to him."

"Ane-chan!", both Elfman and Lisanna yelled out as they rushed to her aid, "Speak to us! Say something!"

"My ship was sunk before it even set sail", Mira murmured again and again, "What a cruel world we live in."

"How did this come about?" Evergreen asked because she was quite sure that Romeo was going to grow up gay seeing how he clung to Natsu all those years ago.

"Well you see that's a funny story", Macao started to say, "I believe it started an almost a year ago."

"We can discuss how Chelia and Romeo got together later, for now, I think it's time you were all brought up to speed on how things have changed since you been gone", Jura interrupted.

"You're right", Macao agreed as he turns to Master Makarov, "You also need to be informed about Romeo's "gift".

"What are you talking about?" Makarov asked as Macao and Jura took a seat on either side of him, "Just how much has changed? And what's this about Romeo?"

"I feel that issue is best explained with a demonstration, but we'll save that for later. For now, you should know about what the Magic Council been doing since you been gone", Jura said as Macao agreed.

"It's time you got with the times, old man", he chuckled.

**Meanwhile back over with everyone else...**

"Hey Max", Gray whispers to the Sand Mage so he wouldn't attract attention.

"Oi, what is it, Gray?" Max answered

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I have to know. How did Romeo land a girl like that? How did he land a girl in general?" as he points over to the table where Romeo, Chelia, and, Wendy were all sitting around talking. Chelia had her arm looped around Romeo's (much to his annoyance) as the two of them inform Wendy of everything that been going on.

"What are you trying to say there, Gray?"

"Well, not to sound mean but I always thought Romeo...was going to grow up playing for the other team so to say."

Max just stares at Gray in silence for a couple moments before speaking…

"You thought...Romeo would turn out gay?"

"Everyone thought Romeo would turn out gay", Cana butted in while downing a barrel.

"You too?" Max said.

"What part of everyone did you not understand Max?" Cana grumbled, "I mean look at what I wear all the time", she said as she pointed at her bikini top.

"Your point being…"

"I can't begin to count how many times I sat right next to Romeo when he was a kid and not once did I ever catch him staring at my girls. I mean look at them!" Cana boasted as she put her barrel down and proceed to grope herself, "I mean I'm no Lucy or Juvia, but I have a decent pair on me!"

"You do realize he was seven-years-old at the time, right? He wasn't into the female body yet!" Max said while trying to defend the boy.

"That is utter bull for two reasons!" Cana countered, "One, I have had plenty of kids his age and younger stare at me and asks their parents, and I quote, "Mommy! Daddy! What are those big round things on that lady's chest?"

"I have to go with Cana on that one. At that age I was all about looking at the female body", Gray interjected with a cocky smile on his face.

"It would've probably helped if you didn't pass out on playgrounds every night back in those days, Cana. And Gray, didn't your teacher train you in nothing more than her bras and panties, in the frigid cold?" Max said, "Anyway Cana, what your second reason?"

"Look at who his father is!", Cana bluntly pointed out, "While Macao is a great friend and I respect him for keeping Fairy Tail together over these last seven years, you can't sit there and tell me that he's not one of the biggest perverts in Magnolia and that Romeo should have inherited a bit of that."

At this point, a crowd has gathered around their table and was listening to the ongoing discussion about Romeo's sexuality, (Which for some reason said boy didn't hear the conversation.)

"Well, she not exactly wrong", Lucy agreed remembering all the times Macao try to cop a feel on her.

"Juvia-chan has to admit that Cana has a point", the Water mage said, "He's stared at Juvia-chan with leering eyes."

"He's been known to commit deplorable acts of lust", Erza added, "I almost castrated him that one time after I caught him peeping into Fairy Hill."

"I caught him and Wakaba staring at my legs a couple of times whenever I wore shorts or a skirt", Levy stated with an angry pout on her face, "Almost swatted them to death with my book after that."

"I turned him into a statue for an hour after catching him ogling my chest", Evergreen griped while fanning herself.

"I admit, I did have to threaten him at gunpoint to stop taking pictures of me without my permission", Bisca said causing Max to face palm himself.

"Not you too", Max groaned

"And we're not even going to count the times he was caught in the women bathroom, dressing room, and the women spa", Lisanna said.

"The boy was surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous, sexily cladded, voluptuous, long-legged girls all day and he never once had a nose bleed or anything! Yet his father had to be rushed to the medical ward whenever I jumped up and down too much!" Cana boomed.

All the women nodded their heads in an agreement which prompts Max to say...

"It's starting to sound like you guys have had this discussion before!"

"Well it was one of the things we were talking about on the way to Tenrou", Lucy said as she remembers the conversation...

**Flashback**

Everyone was sitting around waiting for the boat to leave port on their way to the X784 S-Class examination:

"So has anyone else wondered if Romeo will be gay when he grows up?" Cana asked.

"Oh yeah, I've always wondered about the little guy", Loke spoke up; "He never seems to be looking at the ladies."

"Really, you guys too? Glad it wasn't just me thinking of it", Bickslow added, "That would have been fucking weird."

**Back to the present**

"Are you fucking serious?" Max asked.

"And it came up again during the time we defeated Grimoire Heart and but before Acnologia arrived at the island ", Gray recalled.

**Another flashback**

The Fairy Tail members all gathered at the main camp nursing their wounds after such an agonizing fight with one of the strongest Dark Guild around:

"Hey Juvia", Lisanna whispers to the water mage, "Do you think Romeo might be gay when he gets older?"

"Juvia-chan has come to that conclusion during her time at Fairy Tail. While Juvia-chan sees nothing wrong with it, it's just hard for Juvia-chan to believe that Romeo is the son of Macao."

"I know, right", Evergreen jumped in; "The kid shows no interest in women whatsoever."

**Back in X791**

"What's wrong with you people?!" Max yelled.

"Don't forget about the part where we were all holding hands waiting for Acnologia to blow up Tenrou!" Elfman added.

**It's Flashback Time once more!**

This was it. All their hopes rested on Fairy Sphere protecting them from Acnologia's Roar as the Dragon King was flying high above the island, preparing his devastating finisher. For the Fairy Tail's ace, Gildarts, there was only one thing he could say at this moment.

"Old man!"

"Yes, my child?" the guild master answered.

"Macao's kid, the purple-haired boy, hangs around Natsu a lot. Is he a little... you know, fruity?" Gildarts asked, "I noticed during the times that I'm in the guild that I have never seen him staring at the ladies or anything, despite the way they dress. I mean, he's Macao's son, right?"

"Hmm, I have noticed this as well. At one point I thought that maybe Enno had an affair and that Romeo wasn't Macao's son at all, but I cast those thoughts aside for I know Enno was better than that."

"I'm not saying there anything wrong with it. I mean, I'm buddies with a lot of gay people", Gildarts states.

"Of course, there is nothing wrong with it. If I was able to watch him grow up throughout the years I would still treat him as if he was my own. Fairy Tail does not discriminate against one's sexuality. Just look at Freed", Makarov said as Acnologia fired off his attack.

**Back to the Present (again)**

"He was seven fucking years old! What part of that do you not understand?!" Max screamed out, "And how the fuck did you get Master Makarov and Gildarts in on this shit?!"

"And let us not forget that it was the main topic of discussion on our way back", Laxus said ignoring Max's rant while he sat like a true badass….

**It's Flashback Time (again)!**

On board the Blue Pegasus Airship Magic Bomber Christina, the lost Fairy Tail members were finally coming home after being gone for over seven long years. There were thousands of questions running through everyone mind at that moment, yet one question stood out above all the others…

"So do you think Romeo has a boyfriend by now?" Levy asked.

"Oh yeah, a kid like him definitely has a boy-toy," Gajeel said, "I just wondering how Macao is handling it."

"But would he be the uke or seme?" Pantherlily wondered, "That question is what bugs me the most."

"He was a nice kid, he would undoubtedly be the uke", Freed said as he sips his tea.

"I don't know", Gray disagreed, "He was a pretty tough kid as well, he could be the seme."

Back to the Future (Present, you get what I mean!)

"That's it, I'm done. You people are hopeless", Max said, "Let's just finished this conversation up so I can go home and bleach my brain."

"You have to admit that we would have seen signs of him becoming more like his father around that age", Cana continued

"Okay, okay, maybe Macao didn't already have the purest... motive for the stuff he did, but that doesn't mean Romeo had to inherit all of his habits", Max stated, "Maybe he took more after his mother, Enno."

"Okay then, what about his absurd fan-boyishness of Natsu? Let see you explain that", Cana said.

"What's there to explain?! So he idolizes Natsu, what's wrong with that?!" Max screamed.

"Other than the fact he took the word idolizes and turn it into borderline obsession. The kid clung to every word Natsu said", Cana says.

"What's wrong with that?! I'm a great role-model!" Natsu, who everyone forgot was standing there, bragged.

Everyone turns to look at him for a second before trying to hide their laughter, except Gajeel, Gray, and Laxus who just straight up laugh, out loud, right in Natsu's face.

"You got a problem, Ice Queen?!" Natsu yelled as his fists became engulfed in fire.

"Hell yeah, I got a problem! I got an idiot who brain is so fried that he thinks that he the type of guy children should look up to!", Gray countered as he put his hands together and a blue light appeared.

"You want to go, Snow Princess?!" Natsu roared.

"Bring it Fire Queen!" Gray roared back, " **Ice-Make: Lance**!"

A magic circle appears in front of Gray and out came a dozen frozen spears all aim at Natsu who back-flips out of the way and lands on his hands…

" **Fire Dragon's Claws**!" as two large streams of fire come shooting off of Natsu's feet and towards Gray who too dodges the attack.

There was just one problem, though…

While Gray's attack completely missed Natsu, Natsu was on the outside of the group with no one behind him, therefore, all the attack did was destroy the wall that led to the outside. Gray, on the other hand, was in the more inner part of the group, therefore, when he dodged Natsu's attack, it went to the other side of the guild hall…

Toward the exact location….

Where Romeo, Chelia, and, Wendy were having a conversation.

**OMAKE**

"But you didn't even tell everyone how we got together?", Chelia points out.

"That will be explain in flashbacks throughout the story. Some told through Romeo and some told through Chelia, though for the most part, they'll be through Romeo."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was Beta by BarelyProdigies, author of such great Naruto fanfic like: Something You Can't Ignore and Ill-Fated, check out his stories if you get the chance. (He is great at fight scenes). In fact this chapter is basically is a co-written between us with him doing not only the fight scenes but the flashbacks as well. My writing has only improved ever since he decided to beta for me.

**Chapter 2**

**The Marvell Doctrine**

**Few minutes before Natsu and Gray fight with Makarov, Macao, and Jura**

"So you're telling me that the Magic Council is taking a more direct approach in enforcing laws and they've started cracking down on troublemakers?", Makarov asks as he took a sip of his mug.

"Correct. Ever since Tenrou, the Council has taken a more aggressive stance against legal guilds that don't want to play by the rules. Last year alone over fifty guilds outside Fiore were forcibly disbanded after repeated offenses and they've raise the age limit for people to join guilds", Jura said as he drunk his tea.

"They have, have they? If I recall correctly it use to be that you could join a guild as soon as you could use magic", Makarov said.

"Those days are gone. Now the age limit is fourteen even for just doing a trial run with the guild", Macao told him.

"And what brought this about?" Makarov asked, "The council doesn't usually do something like this without reason."

"Actually, it was because of Wendy", Macao explained.

"Come again?" Makarov asked, caught off-guard by the answer.

"When word got out about Tenrou and the fact that Wendy was only thirteen, things got hectic for Fairy Tail. The Council and a majority of the public wanted to disband us for allowing such a young child to go to such a dangerous examination in the first place. If it wasn't for the efforts of Bob, Yajima, Goldmine, and Ooba, Fairy Tail would've been shut down years ago. Hell, the only reason we got out of it was because the Council believed that you, the man who allowed Wendy to go, were killed alongside with her, therefore, they couldn't punish the rest of us. But even after the hard battle to keep our doors open was over, the Council wasn't finished", Macao explained in detail to Makarov.

"They never are", Makarov commented.

"The Council wanted to ensure that an incident like that never happens again, so they wrote up the Marvell Doctrine, named after the very person who "death" spark the whole controversy. Under these laws, no person under a certain age could join a magic guild, no matter what the circumstances. It also kicked any mages under the age limit out of their guild and kept them from joining up again until after they reach the legal age of eighteen", Jura explained before all three men turned to the sound of Max yelling at Cana for some reasons.

"What going on over there?" Macao asked.

"Probably nothing just Cana being Cana. Anyway, please carry on", Makarov said.

"Yes, at first there was a massive protest from guilds all over Ishgar about this. Many of them had lost their rising star mages and for some of them a good chunk of their membership. But the Magic Council refuse to budge on the matter, saying that their word was final and they use the Rune Knights to enforce this. They would make unannounced surprise visits to guilds all over the place to make sure all the members were of age. There were heavy repercussions for those that try to bend or straight up ignore the laws. But after a while the real trouble started", Macao explained, "Dark guilds started using the law as some sort of recruiting tool, getting young mages to join up with them seeing they how couldn't join up with legal guilds. The number of dark mages skyrocketed, so much that even the Rune Knights and Saint Wizards were stretch thin trying to contain them all. It was only at the request of the Saint Wizards that the Council was willing to finally reach a compromise in the Marvell Doctrine."

"Indeed", Jura nodded, "It took countless hours of debating but eventually they agreed to lower the age limit to fourteen, but certain restrictions were put in place, such as the one that states that unless they were seventeen, mages couldn't take on certain class job requests such as jobs where the cash reward was fifty thousand jewels or higher, unless accompanied by one or more high-ranking mage. With these new amendments, the dark mages numbers plummet while legal guilds numbers rose once more, though a number of guild leaders still complain about the new jobs restriction system", Jura concluded.

" _Though I feel that it wasn't just the dark guilds that cause the Magic Council to rethink its position, but I have no evidence to support this theory_ ", Jura thought to himself.

"Romeo himself just became a Fairy Tail mage two months ago", Macao pointed out before laughing, "Chelia threw him a big party in celebration and she even baked the cake herself."

"Speaking of which I like to ask about the "gift" Romeo apparently has. Also, I have to be truthful with you Macao, I thought Romeo was going to turn out to be hom-", Master Makarov started to say before hearing the words…

 **Ice-Make: Lance** along with " **Fire Dragon's Claw** " as he turned around to see Gray and Natsu once again getting into a fight. Gray put a hole in the side of the building while Natsu fired off a spell that missed Gray and was heading straight for Romeo, Chelia, and Wendy.

"Aw figgle sticks", was all Master Makarov had time to say before….

** A few minutes before Natsu and Gray fight with Romeo, Chelia, and Wendy **

"So how long have you been together?" Wendy asked Romeo and Chelia.

"I say it almost been six months since we started dating, isn't that right my little firefly?" Chelia answered before cuddling up against Romeo who looked at her with an irritated expression on his face.

"I told you to stop calling me that in public, Chelia", he complained.

"But you have no problem with me saying it whenever we're alone", Chelia pouted, "In fact, you call me by my nickname all the time when it is only the two of us. What was it again?"

Romeo refuses to speak as his face heated up and Wendy swears she saw steam coming out of his ears.

"You called me it on our very first date. Don't you remember?", Chelia asked as a cheshire smile started to show on her lips.

Romeo mumbled something so low that not even Wendy's enhance hearing heard it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that", Chelia teased.

"I say that you're my... Dark Sky Angel."

An awkward moment occurs as Wendy is temporarily blinded by Chelia's glowing smile as the girl seem to have gone into a state of pure bliss after Romeo said that.

"How did you guys first meet?" Wendy asks hoping to spare Romeo from any more embarrassment.

"Lamia Scale visited Fairy Tail a number of times over the years. Sherry being my cousin brought me along one day during a break in my singing career about a year ago and that's how I first met Romeo. He was just sitting in a corner by himself reading a book", Chelia answered.

"Oh, so was it love at first sight?" Wendy asks as stars filled her eyes.

"Hah, you wish", Romeo commented causing Chelia to give him a sour look.

"We absolutely hated one another when we first met", Chelia said, "Romeo was as anti-social as you could get. He avoided public areas, crowds of people, only really talked to Fairy Tail members, and his nose was always in a book. He just wanted to be left alone, while myself...well to put it in Romeo's words; I was a pink-hair bitch, though I argue that my hair was amaranth pink, not just plain pink. In short, he wanted nothing to do with me."

"Then how did you two get together?"

"That's... kind of a personal matter that I rather not go into right now and I'm pretty sure Romeo doesn't want to either", Chelia tells Wendy, "Nothing against you, it's just a little personal."

Wendy would have had to been blind to miss the small blush that was starting to resurface on Romeo's face.

"Just know that he really got me out of a bad spot when no one else could and I'm very grateful for him being there", Chelia confessed as she moves in even closer to Romeo whose blush is now starting to match Erza's hair once again, "Plus we're working on getting him over his social anxiety little by little."

"Anyway, how have you been Wendy? Besides the whole stuck on an island while trapped in time for seven years bit", Romeo said, desperate to change the subject and save himself from further humiliation.

Wendy just stares at the two in awkward silence before answering, "Well everything is a little overwhelming for me right now. I mean last time I saw you, Romeo, you were a mere seven-year-old boy and I made you that-", Wendy started to say before she suddenly stops and turns her face away in a sheepish manner, her face as red as Romeo's guild tattoo.

"Um Wendy? Are you okay?" Romeo asks baffled about her sudden actions.

"It's just that, I remember making you a promise before I left for Tenrou", Wendy stuttered out causing Romeo to be even more confused.

"Promise? I don't remember any promise. What pro-oh crap that promise!" Romeo suddenly screamed catching the attention of Mira who was sitting nearby, "Yeah, you can just go ahead and forget all about that! I mean, I was seven-years-old!" Romeo yelled before laughing nervously while Chelia looked on.

"What promise did you make with her Romeo?" The Sky God-Slayer asked.

"Oh nothing! Don't worry about it!" Romeo said as he waves his hand in a dismal manner.

"Now I really want to know. You always been upfront and truthful with me even before we started dating",Chelia complained "So what aren't you telling me?"

Romeo turns his head away from her to avoided looking into her piercing eyes.

"Romeo", Chelia demanded as she crossed her arms.

...

"Romeo!", this time a little louder.

"Alright, alright", he relented, "It was right before Wendy and the others left the guild hall for Tenrou. Back then I may have had a little crush on her…."

**Another Flashback (What are the odds?)**

**X784**

**Outside the Original Fairy Tail Guild Hall**

Wendy was nervous. She can't believe she was really going thru with being Doranbolt's partner for the S-Class examination. Why her? Surely he could have found someone else to go along with him, someone stronger.

She was so worked up in her thoughts that she fails to notice the little purple-haired boy coming up behind her…

"H-Hey Wendy", little Romeo stuttered out.

Wendy snaps out of her internal tirade and turns to see the boy standing there with a blush on his face, his hands behind his back and using his foot to draw circles on the ground.

"Oh Romeo-kun, what do you need?" she asks even though she had a clear idea what it was by this point if the rumors she been hearing from Mira were true.

"I-I-I just wondering if you would like to go to the park with me when you get back?" the boy struggles to say as Wendy tries not to squeal at his cuteness. She had heard through the grapevine that the boy had developed a crush on her a little while after she joined.

"Aw Romeo, that sweet and all, but I think-", she started to let him down gently before Mira suddenly appear out of nowhere next to Wendy with a smile on her face.

"Romeo dear, you think I can talk with Wendy for a second? Its important girl stuff", The S-Class mage asked.

"Um sure?" the boy responded.

"Just wait right here and she'll be right back", Mira said as she started to take Wendy away around the corner.

Once out of sight of the boy…

"Wendy, you weren't going to tell the boy no now were you?" Mira asked.

"I was trying to let him down easy. I was going to tell him I was going to be too busy once I got back!" Wendy blurted out.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk", Mira said in a disappointing voice, "The boy just wants you to take him to the park, nothing more. Surely you can agree to that? The boy is at the age where he needs positive reinforcement. You don't want him to develop a low self-esteem, do you?"

"No", Wendy said.

"Good, cause I trying to make it to where I can set him and Wakaba's daughter, Lindsay, up as a cute couple when they get older and I need that boy to have some backbone. So about you agree to his little park thing, in fact, say it's a date. I bet that would make him happy!" Mira told the girl.

"A-A date?!" Wendy screamed, "But he's only seven."

"Not a real date Wendy, more like a play date. Push him on the swings and stuff. And then you can let him down gently afterward. Say something like, he could do better than you or something like a better girl will come along for him eventually. Please Wendy, for me?" Mira begged.

Wendy wanted to say no, but one look at the bartender pleading face made her change her mind.

"Fine"

"Oh thank you, Wendy! I'll make sure you'll get free milkshakes whenever you want!" Mira jump for joy, "Now go make that boy's day!"

Wendy walks back over to where a squirming Romeo was still standing.

"Romeo, I would love to go out on a date with you to the park when I get back", Wendy told him causing the boy to jump back in surprise.

"A-A d-date?!" Romeo said before catching himself, "Right a date! We're going on a date!"

" _I don't know the first thing about a date. I'll have to ask my daddy about this._ ", Romeo thought.

"Okay then, see you when I get back from Tenrou", Wendy said as she walked back inside the guild hall, all her self-doubt vanishing after her talk with Romeo and Mira.

**Back to the Now**

"And there you go. That was the promise Wendy and I made", Romeo concluded while watching for Chelia's reaction.

"Yeah, but you already know how that turn out", Wendy said, after she had added her side of the story when it was appropriate, "Sorry about the whole Mira thing, Romeo."

"You don't have to be sorry. It took me a while, but I basically figure out that Mira had something to do with it and besides I was a little kid back then, so there no reason for you to hold yourself to that promise anymore", Romeo said as he laughs a little which caused Wendy to laugh as well.

But Chelia wasn't laughing. She just continued to stare at the two of them with a neutral expression on her face, something that did not go unnoticed by Romeo.

"Chelia, don't worry about it. I made that promise when I was a naive little boy and Wendy didn't even want to do it in the first place", Romeo tries to reassure her.

"Oh, I'm not worried, Romeo. It's just weird how the circumstances have changed. But really it was nice to finally meet you, Wendy. I always heard about the Sky Dragon-Slayer from my cousin and the others, I just never thought I get to meet her face-to-face", Chelia said.

"Oh, why thank you, though I have to ask", Wendy started, "Romeo seems uncomfortable by the way you snuggle up against him. I'm just wondering why. Sorry if I'm getting too personal, it's just that I'm worrying about him as a fellow guild member."

"Oh he just hates it when I show my love for him in public, but when it's just me and him, he quite the little romantic", Chelia gushed.

"Wow, it must be quite the ordeal being involved with a pop idol, what with all the attention and everything", Wendy said before getting a confuse look from both Romeo and Chelia.

"That right, you guys don't know", Romeo started to say, "But Chelia and I relationship isn't public. Only a few members of Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus and the guys here at Fairy Tail know about it. Far as everyone else knows she's still single."

Now Mira was paying even more attention to their conversation.

"Why that?" Wendy asks.

"We both came to an agreement, along with everyone else, that since Romeo has a form of social anxiety disorder, it's probably for the best if he didn't have media watching his every move, so we're both keeping it a secret until the time is right.", Chelia stated, "Remember, he hates being around crowds of people he doesn't know."

"Oh, I see", Wendy said.

Unbeknownst to the three teenagers, Mira was plotting at the table behind them.

" _Interesting, I forgot all about that little promise myself and Romeo and Chelia little relationship is a secret kept from the public eye. It seems that I may have RoWen after all, especially since Wakaba told me that Lindsay has joined Twilight Ogre and hasn't talked to Romeo in months_ ", she thought as she smiled sinisterly, scaring Laki and Kinana who were also sitting at the table.

Before Romeo and the girls could talk any further they suddenly hear…

" **Ice-Make: Lance**!", and a second later they hear an explosion. Next, they hear: " **Fire Dragon's Claw**!"

All three of them turn to see two large streams of fire barreling toward them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

**Romeo vs Natsu**

The duo streams of blazing fire streak their way across the guild hall and toward their unintended targets of Chelia, Wendy, and Romeo.

Neither Chelia nor Wendy had time to prepare their magic to deflect it away, and Mira, despite her best efforts to move and block the flames, wasn't quick enough, so it looked like they were all going to be hit by the attack, but then suddenly….

Romeo is out of Chelia's embrace and on top of the table, both of his arms spread outward and to almost everyone's amazement the two rivers of fire were now suddenly spinning upward in spirals of flaming heat. Romeo then moves his arms and brings his hands into a prayer position. The two towers of fire then proceed to disperse and reform near the ceiling as they melded together to form a spinning circle of reddish orange before Romeo finally moves his hands apart while forming fists with his hands.

Within the span of a few seconds the pieces of the circle began to break off and take the shape of tiny mockingbirds as soon the upper levels of the guild hall were packed with a swarm of these fiery creatures. They then began to move as one out the closet open window excepted for a few that flew over to Asuka and Chelia.

Asuka, with all the glee that a six-year child could possesses, was instantly hugging all the fire birds that flew up to her. To Natsu and Master Makarov amaze, she was neither burn nor even singe by them. And Chelia was giggling out loud as the birds flew around her and landed on her arms.

"Romeo, that tickles!" Chelia said between fits.

With a snap of his fingers all the birds dispersed and almost everyone is left either stunned or simply amazed by what they saw.

…

….

…..

Then Macao began to speak…

"It has been awhile since you were that creative with fire. I believe the last time you did something like that was Chelia's birthday, if I'm right."

For the umpteenth time today Romeo has a blush stretch across his face.

"Shut up, you old drunk", He mumbles before going to sit back down.

"Okay, someone want to explain to me just happen?!", Gajeel yells out what everyone else who was on Tenrou were thinking, "I haven't since fire manipulation like that since Totomaru back at Phantom Lord, and even he wasn't that good!"

"Juvia-chan has to agree with Gajeel-kun! That level of detail was above even the likes of Totomaru-kun.", Juvia added.

"Is this the gift you were saying Romeo has, Macao?" Master Makarov asked.

"It's half of it. The other half you would have a hard time believing", Macao answered as he turns to face the whole guild hall.

"It's a funny thing you should mention Totomaru, Gajeel, or should I say Totomaru-sensei, as he now goes by", he started to say, "Because he was the one who discovered Romeo's talent at pyrokinesis."

"Totomaru-senpai? He's a teacher now?" Gajeel muttered before responding back to Macao, "And are saying that Romeo can control fire like him?"

"That's exactly what he is saying", Wakaba spoke up, "But that's only half of Romeo special talent. He also has another one, the ability to learn fire base magic within a short span of time. It only took him a week to learn Purple Flare, three months to learn Rainbow Fire Magic, another month to learn Boras' Fire magic!"

"How did he learn Boras' magic?" Lucy asks remembering the man who almost kidnapped her and was basically the reason he met Natsu. This also got Juvia's attention because the Water Mage was wondering how everyone seemed to know her ex-boyfriend.

"We asked him to come teach him because he own us a favor", Wakaba casually answered, "He was amaze by Romeo's progress and pretty much said the same thing that Totomaru said, that he has an amazing talent."

"That not even the half of it, he knows other kinds of fire magic as well." Macao started to boast before….

"Um, dad? Maybe you should take a look a Natsu." Romeo butts in as he notices that Natsu had an ear-splitting grin on his face that anyone who knew him well enough knew what that meant.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"I'm great Lucy! It's just seeing how much Romeo has grown over the past years has gotten me all riled up and now I'm just itching for the chance to test out his new magic!", Natsu boomed as he look toward Master Makarov and Macao, "Come on let me have a sparring match with Romeo! I'm all fired up! It would be like fighting Totomaru again! I can only imagine how delicious his flames must taste."

A second after he said that Lucy launches him with a kick through the guild hall door and he lands a good forty yards away in the open field.

"Are you crazy?!" Lucy screamed out, "You just got back from Tenrou, your wounds haven't fully healed yet, and you could hurt Romeo, idiot!"

" _Kicking him across the field isn't going to help him get any better, Lucy",_ Romeo thought as he walked over to see if Natsu was okay, _"Besides it's not like I could have stood much of a chance against Natsu to-"_ he starting to think before suddenly changing his mind.

" _Wait a minute. Who says I can't go toe-to-toe against Natsu? I might actually be able to beat him if I play my cards right. He has been out of commission for the past seven years, while I been getting stronger. Hell, I was trained by Totomaru-senpai, and Boras, mages that gave Natsu a run for his money before losing to him. As long as I don't make the same mistakes they did I should be fine!",_ Romeo thought in the span it took him to walk up to Natsu, who was still laying on the ground, and being berated for suggesting something so stupid.

"You don't just go around fighting any person on the street just because you think they be interesting to fight! This is why we were always paying for damages on jobs because you thought it be fun to fight instead of trying to-",

"I want to spar with Natsu-nii" Romeo said while walking up to the duo.

Lucy stops mid-rant, mouth wide open and turns to look at Romeo.

"Come again, Romeo", Lucy says.

"I said I would love to spar with Natsu-nii. I always wanted to be as strong as him, so what better way than fighting him? I'm not a little boy anymore Lucy."

"Romeo, I don't think you understand what you're asking for. Gajeel I could see, but Natsu has a tendency to not hold back in a fight", Lucy try to explain.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. If anything I have Chelia along with Wendy over there to heal me up afterward, which she done before in the past." Romeo tells her as he points to the Sky Slayers.

Lucy, not one to easily admit defeat, decided to try a different route to keep the boy from getting himself hurt.

"But there no way either Master Makarov or your father would allow you to spar against Natsu." Lucy spoke confidently and believed that she had won this debate.

"Actually I would like to see this spar myself" Macao voiced his opinion.

"What kind of father are you?!" Lucy questioned, bewildered by the fact that Macao would allow his own son to fight against Natsu.

"Romeo hasn't just been practicing on training dummies these past seven years. He trained with Max, Alzack, Nab, Jet, Droy, and even Wakaba and myself", Macao explained.

Lucy then tries the back-up plan and turns to Chelia.

"As his girlfriend, shouldn't you be trying to stop him from doing this?!" Lucy asked

"Shouldn't you be trying to encourage them fight? I mean, your boyfriend just wants to fight my boyfriend, so what's the big deal?" Chelia asks back causing Lucy's face to glow red.

"NATSU IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Lucy's scream echoes throughout the forest.

"Really?" Chelia says as she tilts her head at Lucy, "Could have fooled me with the way you guys been acting."

"They liiiikkkkkeeeeee each other", Happy says as he flies behind Chelia causing Lucy's face to go red with embarrassment.

"Anyway Lucy, there's no point in trying to get Chelia to change Romeo's mind. She spars with him all the time, so she knows what he's capable of" Wakaba says while taking a puff of his cigar.

"The passion he shows in our fights burns even hotter than his magic!" Chelia says as she puts her hands up to her cheeks and swoons, causing Romeo to throws her an annoyed look while sporting a faint blush.

"That still doesn't mean he should be fighting Natsu right off the back!" Lucy argued.

"Lucy, I understand that you're only trying to prevent Romeo from possibly getting hurt and usually I would not abide by this, but if Romeo and his father are content with this match, then I will allow it. Romeo isn't going to get any stronger by just fighting training dummies. I mean I allowed Natsu to fight Laxus and Gildarts all the time when he was younger and yet he is still alive." Makarov says, "And like Romeo pointed out, we have two healing mages on hand."

Master Makarov then looks towards Natsu with a harden glare…

"And I'm sure Natsu understands that this is a sparring match and not a real fight. If he was to severe hurt Romeo, then I guess I have to hand him over to Erza for disciplinary actions", he threatens as Natsu gulps in fright and turns to see The Queen of the Fairies sharpening her blade while staring menacingly at Natsu.

"Ayyeeeeee" Natsu croaks out before fainting out of sheer fright…

**A while later after Natsu woke up**

Romeo and Natsu stood twenty feet apart from one another on the open field in front of the guild hall.

To say Romeo was nervous was an understatement. Here he was about to take on Natsu, his hero, in a sparring match. In front everyone: his father, Master Makarov, the rest of the guild, his girlfriend, (a word that even after all this time he still hasn't gotten use to saying or believing for that matter)

"This match is until either one of the participants is unable to continue or they forfeit the match!" he announced while Lucy shakes her head.

"This really is a bad idea you guys. Laxus has a better chance of holding back against Romeo than Natsu does."

"I doubt Natsu will go all out on Romeo, I mean the kid looks up to him. He's his idol", Levy tried to assure the blonde.

"Go Romeo! Good luck!" Chelia cheered from the sidelines while Gajeel and Gray were making bets.

"I say he last five minutes", Gray told the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Confident, aren't we?" Gajeel replied, "I say he lasts three."

"I say they get two minutes in before the flaming idiot hurts the kid" Laxus said from behind them, "Wendy, you might want to get your healing magic warmed up for Romeo."

"I'm standing right here. I can heal Romeo too, you know?", Chelia mumbles too herself thinking no one can hear her while seeming to forget about the enhance hearing of Dragon-Slayers.

Both Gajeel and surprisingly Laxus smirk at this…

" _She got it bad for him",_ they both thought as they turn their attention back to the field.

"Are both combatants ready?" Master Makarov announced.

" _Knowing Natsu-nii, he'll try to get in close to me straight out the get go and no doubt even after seven years he still a better hand-to-hand combatant than me. Seeing how this is a sparring magic, he probably won't be using any of his Fire Dragon Slayer magic and will just resort to punches and kicks. I guess I'll have to fight him at distance to improve my chances",_ Romeo was thinking while he took a fighting stance and started to focus his magic.

" _I'm going to have fun!"_ Was all that running through Natsu's head at that moment before he started paying attention to Romeo and for a brief second, his eyes went wide in excitement.

"Okay then, get ready!" as Makarov holds his hand up, then bring its down, "Begin!"

" **Fire Dragon's Claw!"** Natsu roars as his leg become engulfed in flames and he launches himself at Romeo.

"RIGHT OFF THE BAT?!" Everyone from the sideline yells out, "WERE YOU NOT PAYING ATTENTION, NATSU?!"

Romeo had almost no time to comprehend the fact that Natsu was already using magic against him in a match that just started literally a second ago. It was by pure instinct and luck that he manages to lean backwards in time to so that Natsu's fiery leg sweep to his chest passed over him.

Romeo back-flips a couple yards from Natsu and conjures up a red flame in his left hand.

"Okay Natsu-nii! If that's how this match is going to go right from the start, then I'm going to have a blast: **Inferno Construct: Hell Tiger!** _"_

Flames shoot out from Romeo's hand and began to take shape a few feet in front of him of a four legged beast with powerful forelimbs, a large head, and a long tail to top it off. Razor sharp claws of fire appear on its front and back legs as dagger-like teeth form in its mouth. Finally, it looks at Natsu through detailed slit eyes before letting out a thunderous roar that resounded throughout the forest.

"Whoa", was all Lucy, Levy, and the other Tenrou group members could say as they look upon Romeo's creation while the fire chain that link the tiger to the boy's hand disappeared.

"He was adamant about me teaching him that move after he saw me perform it once while I was sparing with Jura during a visit", Lyon informed Gray who was a little slacked jaw at what just transpired. As he shook himself out of his stupor, he looks at his fellow pupil.

"How were you able to teach him that? Fire and Ice are two completely elements!"

"I am fully aware of that fact, thank you very much. But the basic for creating stuff out of the elements is still the same. It's all about detail and control. As long as you have that, anyone can learn molding magic no matter who teaches them. Though I'll admitted the boy surprise me with his level of control and detail", Lyon explained as he turns his attention back to the fight.

"Go! **Hell Tiger**!", Romeo commanded as the beast launches itself at Natsu, its claws stretched out. Natsu dodges the first strike and immediately goes to throw a punch at the creature's face only for the tiger to jump backwards out of reach.

"Oi Romeo, I thought you said you wanted to fight me", Natsu complained.

"I am fighting you Natsu-nii", the boy replied, "But I'm not stupid enough to fight you in hand-to-hand combat where you would have the clear advantage."

" _The kid is smarter than he looks",_ Laxus thought.

"Fine! Guess I'll have to come to you!" Natsu says as he charges toward him.

Romeo maneuvers the hell tiger to intercept him but Natsu seemed to have anticipated this and vaults over it and continues toward Romeo with his fist ignited.

"Too slow!" Romeo smirks before making a quick gesture with his hand as Natsu's fist comes flying in.

" **Inferno Construct: Hell Tiger!"** and right before Natsu's attack lands, a second tiger is created behind Romeo and leaps over him to slam into Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer jumps back quickly to avoid a swipe but then feel a presence behind him and rolls out of the way of the first tiger pounce attack. When he regains his footing he is presented with two fiery beasts standing between him and Romeo.

"So he can control two of these things at once?" Master Makarov asked, "Impressive."

"It sure is, but of course the more he makes, the more magic that is drain from him and the harder it is for him to control all them" Macao points out.

Natsu was being back into a corner as the two hell tigers unleash a barrage of claw swipes at him. At one point Natsu failed to read an attack correctly and was hit in the square in the chest by a paw, leaving four thin lines of burnt skin across his open chest

"Wow, and to think we were all worried about Romeo", Gray says to which Gajeel and Laxus simply nod.

"I wonder though when Natsu will stop playing around." Laxus says before cupping his hands around his mouth. "Oi idiot! Hurry up and end this or else I will lose my bet!"

Natsu look over his shoulder and gave Laxus an almost begging look to continue the fight but when met with Laxus' glare he dropped it. "Sorry Romeo. We really should end this spar I guess…"

"Why are you talking like it's over?! Go **Hell Tigers**!" The two inferno tigers roared out before racing towards Natsu. They jumped up into the air to pounce on their prey but they didn't expect to be eaten themselves!

With his mouth wide open Natsu sucked up the two tigers and consumed Romeo's spell. "Ah! That wasn't half bad. Alright let's end this."

"Hmm. Romeo should have expected this." Makarov murmured to himself. "Elemental magic doesn't work on Slayer wizards of the same kind." He took a step forward to end this fight but the young challenger refused.

"We are just starting! **Inferno Construct: Swallow Storm!** " Out of his extended hands flew a swarm of fire birds that began to rapidly fly around Natsu forming a living tornado of flame beasts.

"That's the spirit Romeo!" Natsu turned his head around to see if there were any escapes and noticed while the swallows were speeding up, they weren't attacking. A shadow raced towards the tornado and Natsu knew he had to react quickly.

" **Rainbow Fire: Violet!** " Romeo broke through his own spell with his fist ignited in a purple flame. He aimed right where Natsu stood but he leapt into the air to avoid the attack. It was a good thing that he did because the ground that Romeo hit was melting away.

"How did his attack melt the ground?" Lucy asked as Romeo avoided the sludge where the ground once was. "It's one of the flames of Rainbow Flame magic. The violet flame has acidic properties that allow it to melt even metal." Macao seemed to puff out his chest at that as his son was trying to hold his own ground.

"My turn now Romeo! **Fire Dragon Wing Attack!** " From the air Natsu ignited both of arms and then quickly jerked them down to create two large arcs of fire aimed right at Romeo. He sprinted away from the attack as quickly as he could but because he ran in a straight line away from it Natsu predicted where he would be.

" **Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame**!" A giant ball of flame raced right at Romeo so he had to jump in the air to avoid the wing attack behind him and this new attack. However, Natsu foresaw this and jumped up in the air to meet him.

Romeo's eyes suddenly widened as Natsu seemed to appear out of nowhere with a fanged grin on his face. Quicker than he thought, Natsu punched him in the stomach as Romeo extended his palm into Natsu's chest.

BOOM! Romeo was send rocketing into the earth creating a dust cloud from the impact alone as if he was just a pinball.

"Romeo!", It was hard to tell who yelled his name out as the crowd watching was worried for the young mage after that harsh attack. As Natsu was falling back to the ground he noticed a purple rope of fire was connected to his chest.

"Let me return the favor Natsu-nii!" Romeo's clothes were tatter but he was standing with one end of the purple fire in his hand. He harshly yanked his hand backwards sending Natsu flying right at him with his eyes wide in shock.

" **Purple Flare** and now…" Romeo's right fist was clench and now ignited with a blue/purple flame that was slowly growing. " **Rainbow Fire: Indigo!** " All the momentum that Natsu had flying into Romeo was now added into the punch as the force behind the blow seemed to double. Natsu's eyes went wide at the pain from Romeo's attack and uncontrollably coughed out spit as he seemed to double over Romeo's fist.

" **Ignite.** " The indigo flame lodged into Natsu's stomach exploded outward creating an azure flame cloud and sent him skipping along the ground like a stone leaving deep marks where his body shoveled the dirt that was once there.

Natsu dug his hands into the ground as he was flying backwards to regain control of himself. He raced forward before igniting both his feet. Romeo stood his ground or at least tried to as his right side was singe from the up close explosion he delivered. With his fists up in a fight stance he tried to defend himself.

" **Fire Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu right foot soared over Romeo's face as he leaned backwards but it left him exposed. Natsu used his other leg to sweep him off his feet and then he kicked him in the chest which sent him to rolling in the dirt.

"ha….ha….ow…man Natsu-nii is tough." Romeo was on his back with his chest smoldering from the Natsu's last attack. He put his hand over his chest before clutching his shirt. "I can't give up now. Not when I haven't given it my all!" He pushed himself up into a crouch and looked over at Chelia who pushed herself to the front of the crowd so she could rush to heal him.

Romeo looked away and silently punched the ground at his feet in anger, not at Natsu, but at himself. His purple hair shadowed over his eyes as he whispered to himself that he was breaking his promise to Chelia.

**Flashback**

**Haragon's harbor (A month and a half ago)**

_How many times had he stood on this dock? Waiting for his guild-no- his family to return. Silently watching the waves as they lapped at his feet over and over and over-_

_"Hey, how long are you going to ignore me?" Romeo turns around to be greeted by his, well…it didn't matter! "Sorry about that I was just distracted." Chelia pouted over-dramatically and quickly jumped onto him for a hug._

_"H-Hey!" She ignored his squirming before flicking him in the forehead. "Don't worry me ever again! I couldn't find you anywhere!" Her gloved hands moved in a flurry as she expressed her genuine worry._

_"Geez Chelia I was right here the whole time." Romeo rubbed where she flicked him as it started to irritate him. "Come over here. I didn't hit you that hard." Her hands began to glow before she holds them over his head._

_"Hey, I'm uh sorry-" Chelia shushed him with one of her fingers which caused him to blush at the contact. "Just promise me that you will let me heal you if get hurt or else you'll worry me."_

_"But you were the one that hurt me!" He hopped backwards during his outburst which caused Chelia to flick him again in the head. Romeo groaned out in pain but she didn't seem to care._

_"It doesn't matter who hurts you. I will always be there to heal you because… OF LOVE" She struck a pose and hearts seemed to come out of her body. Romeo nervously chuckled at her ridiculousness but couldn't help the small blush that rose up. Luckily, their job request was kept a secret so the media didn't know Chelia was here and the fact the employer actually lived on the outskirts of town helped. It also helped that most of Haragon's population was at the market far away from the harbor so basically Romeo and Chelia were by themselves for a while, a rare moment outside the forest of Magnolia._

_"Alright come on. Let's get out of here." He walked past her and headed for the side road next to the harbor so they would avoid the crowds. Chelia didn't move from her spot and it look like she was expecting something as she cross her arms and gave Romeo an annoyed stare._

_"Chelia, please not now", Romeo complained._

_She turned her head away and started tapping her foot loudly against the wood of the dock. Romeo slightly groaned before looking around for any witnesses. "Come on…*sigh* my Dark Sky Angel." Chelia was ecstatic with a glowing smile on her face before following after him._

_"That's my little firefly."_

_"ARGH! I told you not to say that in public!", Romeo screamed, angrier at the "little" part then the firefly bit. It wasn't his fault Chelia was taller than him._

_"There's no one else around, my little firefly!"_

_"ARRRRGGGGHHH!"_

**Back to present**

The hand that was once holding his burnt side was now being used to wave off Chelia who was about to rush in without anyone telling her to. Romeo tilted his head back up and made eye contact with Natsu. Filled with anger at himself Romeo accidentally started burning up the ground he was gripping with the other hand.

"I'm not going to end this here! **Red Carpet!** " Flames began to blaze underneath him until they became a solid mass that levitated him off the ground. Romeo began to kick it into high gear as the fire carpet soared high into the air and flew faster and faster until Romeo jumped off heading directly at Natsu.

He was building up his momentum by flipping in the air until he was right on top of him and with an intense look on his face, he roared out his attack. " **INFERNO CONSTRUCT: VERMILLION SWORD!** " A giant sword of red fire formed in his hands and with all the force in his body combined with his momentum from **Red Carpet** went into this attack.

The ground beneath Natsu shattered from the blow and a large dust cloud formed blocking the crowds' view of the two. "Tch. And here I was hoping that the runt would last longer." Gajeel said it with a clearly annoyed tone as he knew the results of Romeo's attack before the dust had cleared.

The dust had cleared and showed a shaking Romeo who was still trying with all his might to force his Vermillion Sword down on Natsu. On the other hand, Natsu had caught Romeo's sword between his two hands only inches away from his face. "That was a good try Romeo but you forgot in the heat of the moment didn't you?"

His eyes went wide as the fire sword in his hand got eaten by Natsu as if it was just air. "Mhmm. That was a tasty meal Romeo! That spell felt really strong…but this is it." Natsu's elbow was lit ablaze which sent his fist thundering into Romeo's chest. Romeo's eyes grew hazy from the blow and he unconsciously spat out before being sent flying across the field until his back slammed into a tree.

"Why did you go so far?!" Lucy yelled out at Natsu who had a rare serious look on his face as he slowly opened and closed the fist he used to hit Romeo. "I felt it in his last attack Lucy. It's something only fire magic can express. The emotion behind his last attack was intense and I know that my punch alone would not-"

A fire swallow raced by his face swiftly before more of them rushed around him to create a swarm. In the last moments before his vision was block, Natsu saw Romeo slouched against the tree with only one arm extended and quietly saying his spell. He was clearly injured to a point that the next serious attack could push him over the edge.

In contrast Natsu only had a few light burns and only one real mark from when Romeo hit him at close range with his Rainbow Fire: Indigo.

"You've come a long way Romeo." He said to himself as he watched the beautiful fire swallows circle around him as if he were the eye of tornado. Natsu widened his stance and drove his feet into ground. "AAAAHHHHH!" Natsu's body became encase in flames and grew larger and larger until Romeo's fire spell broke.

"Now let's go again- what the?" Natsu tilted his head before he started pointing out all the Romeos in front of him. "1,2, 3… why in the world were there like a million Romeos?!" The number of clones was not that high but they didn't stand still to correct him. They rushed at Natsu who grinned at the challenge.

"So the kid waited until Natsu's vision was block to create clones." Makarov was impress by his tactics because now it could buy him time to recover. "Oh yeah master it's my smoke clone technique just modified for Romeo's fire magic." Wakaba spoke up next to Macao who elbowed him.

"Hey! Who told you to teach my son any spells and when did he learn it anyways?" Wakaba rubbed his stomach before speaking up again. "Come on, he's my godson and besides he knew he couldn't practice around you so why don't you ask her?" He pointed out Chelia who was looking at all the Romeos with a glazed look in her eyes.

**Flashback (Two month ago)**

_Inside Lamia Scale guild hall, away from the public eye and a majority of the guild itself, Romeo was exhausted from training so he was taking a break in a chair without his shirt on. Hovering over him with a water bottle was Chelia who was trying to be more considerate of his state of exhaustion rather than his lack of clothes._

_"Ah. Thanks Chelia I needed this." He twisted the cap open and gulped down the water quickly. "Do you want a towel or something for…?" She gestured at his sweat before he pulled the water bottle away from his mouth._

_"Nah, I got it."_

_"What do you mean?" She looked confused before she heard another set of footsteps approach through the door. "Hey. I got the towel." Another shirtless Romeo came in with a towel hanging around his neck._

_"W-what two Romeos?" The one in the chair stood up and took the towel from the other one before a third Romeo showed up. "Jura wants to know when we can start training with him again." Chelia was starting to feel faint as there were now three Romeos around her._

_"H-how many of you are there?" The Romeo who had the water bottle in hand walked up to her side and whispered into her ear, "I warm up at making 10 clones now but that number grows every day you know." And that was all it took for Chelia to black out with a nosebleed._

_That clone made sure she gently landed in the chair he was sitting in before. "There you guys are! I been looking all over for you!" A fourth Romeo came in but quickly went quiet when he saw Chelia asleep in a chair. "Don't bother her. You know what? Might as well-" Romeo made a gesture with his hand and all three clones broke down into flames._

_He grabbed the stuff they left behind but before he left he noticed the look on Chelia's face. "Huh she seems to be having a good dream." She had a smile on her face but it wasn't one he had ever seen before so he just shrugged and left her to her sweet, sweet dream._

**Back to present**

Natsu punched another Romeo in the face before spinning and delivering a back kick into another clone. "How many of you are there?!" He was growing annoyed at the amount of clones and decided to jump up into the air.

" **Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!** " The giant fireball touched down on the ground quickly and eliminated the clones around him before a new set of ten came at him. "This is getting old quick but at least there less of them."

Natsu charged at the remaining clones and delivered a haymaker to the first clone but what happened was different than before. His eyes widened as the clone erupted on contact into a blue flame that was so cold it left frost on the hand he hit it with. "W-what?"

It wasn't going to slow the others down as the next Romeo kicked him in the side. He reacted quickly and caught the leg before punching the clone in the gut. It erupted into a green flame this time which left him coughing profusely. "Is this poison?"

Now a set of three jumped him so he flipped into a handstand and twirled on his hands to kick all three away because he was catching on to what was going on. The clones exploded into an orange flame which he quickly took advantage of because it seemed normal. The swallowed the remaining fire which was fine until it tasted awful! "What kind of flame is this?! Yuck!"

"Enough of this! I wasn't mad before but after that meal I'm fired up!" Natsu lined up the last five clones before taking a step back and driving his feet into the ground. His stomach swelled up and opened his mouth to unleash an attack big enough to take them all out. " **Fire Dragon's Roar!** "

A torrent of fire raced out of his mouth and torched the five remaining clones. Their colors and abilities were drowned out in Natsu's overwhelming attack. "There that should- oh come on!" As more time passed it was clear to him that Romeo was building strength.

"Just come out of hiding and face me Romeo! I thought you wanted to fight me!"

"I do want to fight you and this is my way." All the clones spoke in unison which creeped him out. "Alright…just don't do that again." He rushed forward again before he stopped midway. "I-I'm just wasting time here." The others in the crowd were shocked to say the least because he didn't sound like Natsu.

"I didn't take the S class exams to stay as the same old Natsu. I can't let this drag on too long because if this was a real battle the real Romeo would have been long gone. I don't know which one of you is the real one but he better be ready." Natsu hands ignited but continued to grow to a dangerously large size

" **Dragon Slayer Secret Technique: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!** " He swiped his arms in a circular fashion, creating a powerful, and highly destructive, torrent of flames that exploded outward into the sea of clones, destroying the training ground in the process. All that remained was numerous amount of small different colored flames scattered around the training ground like someone had spilled paint on it with splotches here and there.

Well at least one solid thing remained in Natsu's ground zero as Romeo had somehow survived but was on his knees. Natsu slowly walked up to him and only asked him one question. "Do you still want to keep going or we can stop right here?"

Romeo was shaking from the last attack and it was clear he was in pain as his back was still smoking from the backlash. "You know Gildarts told me something that I think you should hear." Romeo didn't say anything and just let him talk.

"I applaud anyone who has the courage to stand up and face their enemies." Romeo looked up from the ground at what he thought was Natsu praising him. "However, the wizards who are the most courageous are those exceptional few who know when to stand down." Natsu saw that Romeo looked back down to the ground after that but before he could continue Romeo spoke up.

"I-I always knew you were stronger than me, but I can't give up not until-" The look in his eyes was different than what he seen this whole fight. "-until I have nothing left. Whatever happens next Natsu-nii…just fight me with all you got okay." Romeo finished weakly before collapsing onto the ground.

"Romeo!" Natsu reached out for him and grabbed onto him.

Only for him to slowly fade away into a small flame.

It had been a clone the whole time.

His eyes widened when his nose caught Romeo's scent further away from him. Natsu stared at the tree that he originally sent Romeo flying into after his **Vermillion Sword** until a shadow moved from behind the collapsing tree.

Romeo emerged from the shadow of the tree but looked different. His eyes had become narrow like slits but what caught Natsu off guard the most was the scales that were formed around his eyes. Romeo covered his stomach before looking back at Natsu and clenched his hand over it. To him this was the real fight.

"Come on Natsu-nii lets finish this." Romeo started running at him while Natsu was not saying anything and was trying to figure out what was going on. As the two of them were getting closer and closer they set their right hands ablaze with a similar reddish-orange flame. They pulled back their arms before yelling out their attack.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** "

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** "

The two fists collided and while Romeo was putting as much as he could into the attack Natsu's mind was somewhere else. " _The power radiating off these new flames seemed familiar. The scales around his eyes are also-"_

" **Fire Dragon's Claw!** " Romeo brought up his left leg and aimed his kick at Natsu's face but it was block. _"Romeo's kick also feels stronger but-"_ Romeo kept on attack in close combat but no matter what he did he wasn't able to land any good hits.

Iron fist after iron fist Natsu was deflecting them away with an odd look on his face. _"Not fast enough! Come on Natsu you can do better than that! Hit with all you got!"_ The voice was no longer his own but one he hadn't heard in a long time. " _Igneel…"_

" **Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!** " Romeo unleashed his own wing attack but it was clearly inexperienced. _"What a joke you couldn't even heat up dinner with an attack like that!"_ Natsu easily avoided it while Romeo was reaching his wit's end because his attacks weren't effective.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** " The look in his eyes showed he was trying his hardest. His orange scarf was moving along with him but to Natsu it was looking more and more like his own. _"Footwork! You need to get better at the fundamentals before you can roar like me ha-ha."_

" _Igneel…Here I was looking for my dad when…"_

"Take this Natsu-nii! **Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!** " Romeo ignited his whole body and rushed him at an incredible speed. Natsu crossed his arms in front of him in preparation of the attack but he was surprised when Romeo's head butt rammed him and sent him tumbling backwards.

"… _I had a little brother here the whole time…and I missed so much already."_ Romeo had always been by his side when he was just a little kid going on and on how he was going to be just like his older brother but he missed out on him growing up as a fire wizard. Natsu looked up at Romeo and had a new grin on his face.

"You've sure grown up a lot huh Romeo?" He had his own grin on his face and for a second he let his body falters from the stress. "Yeah, it been tough without you guys." Romeo body was quickly running out of stamina especially after activating his lacrima to enter Fire Dragon Slayer Mode.

"Well then come on hit me with all you got." Natsu pounded his fist into his chest before extending his fist out to him. _"Show me all of your feelings, everything you had to bear alone."_

Romeo fire swelled to unseen heights as his body was ablaze before he took a deep breath in and roared out his heart.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!** " A flood of red and orange flames rushed out of his mouth and raced towards Natsu. He stood still as the torrent of flames drew closer and closer. Natsu widened his stance and prepared his own roar. _"Do you hear me Romeo?!"_ Lightning charged around his body and swelled within him to mix with his fire.

" **LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!** " Natsu gathered and combined lightning and fire in his mouth and released them in a large, destructive, sparking blast that raced directly at Romeo's roar. It quickly overpowered the smaller roar and soon it blasted through to connect with Romeo at full force.

He fell backwards onto his back completely exhausted and too injured to even move. The scales around his eyes faded away and his eyes returned to normal. Romeo's body twitched at random intervals as Natsu's lightning was still coursing through it was bad, let alone the damage done from the roar itself.

With shallow breaths he only had time for one thought.

" _Natsu-nii really is back…"_

Romeo was unconscious by the time Chelia had reached him with tears in her eyes with Wendy right behind her.

The Tenrou group was silent for a moment before Gajeel decided to speak up...

"I'm pretty sure I speak for almost everyone here whose still confuse when I ask; Since when the hell is the brat a dragon-slayer?!"

But Mira is ignoring all this as she watches Chelia frantically heal Romeo alongside Wendy with teardrops falling from the God Slayer's eyes.

" _It may be harder than I thought to get Romeo with Wendy. Chelia seems to have her claws deep in him. Oh well, I do enjoy a challenge, but I may need help",_ Mira thinks as she looks away from the young teenagers and toward Erza and Lucy who were now moving on a terrified Natsu with a fire blazing in their eyes that could easily outmatch anything the Fire Dragon Slayer could cook up.

Mira smiles at this, " _Guess this going to be a challenge for the Strauss siblings."_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

**Necklaces, Dances, and Elfman's Miseries**

Romeo sat straight up as he woke up. Unfortunately, this agitated the bandages that wrapped around his chest, his stomach, all four of his limbs, and even his neck. He looked like a mummy just pulled out of its tomb.

"ARGH!" echoes throughout the medical room at the Fairy Tail guild hall where he was recovering at.

"Goddammit _, Natsu-nii really did a number on me",_ Romeo thought as he waited for the sudden pain to go away. He could tell by the way his bandages wrap around him that he must have at least suffer first-degree burns up and down his entire body. But on the bright side, Chelia's and Wendy's healing must have fix up most of his body. Upon seeing that he was going to be all right, Romeo leaned back down into the bed.

" _I still have an extremely long way to go to match up with Natsu-nii, or any of the other guys for that matter. My flames are still so weak compared to their magic, especially my Dragon Slayer flames. I have to-"_ Romeo muses over it for a moment before hearing the door suddenly slam open and sees a distraught Chelia standing in the doorway. Romeo could tell by her stained eyeliner that she been crying, a lot.

"My little firefly!" she wailed as she dashes toward him.

"I told you not-dkjfds!" Romeo blurt out as he is entangled in a bone crushing hug by the pink-haired idol.

"I was so worried! You were barely breathing and you were covered in burns!" Chelia cried out while suffocating the poor boy.

" _I'm still covered in burns and I'm still barely breathing here!"_ Romeo thought as he tries to escape the God-Slayer grasp.

"Okay Chelia, the boy can't breathe", a voice calls out from the doorway as Romeo is finally able to wiggle his head out of Chelia's arms to see his dad standing there smiling alongside Master Makarov who was also grinning, "Also we need to have a talk between the three of us."

"But he-", Chelia started to argue.

"Come child, it will only take but a minute", Master Makarov reassured her.

After a few brief moments, Chelia reluctantly let go of Romeo who gasped for air. The Sky God-Slayer walks to the door and shuts it quietly, leaving the three mages alone in the medical ward.

Master Makarov's smile drops and he moves to a position where he can look at both Macao and Romeo at the same time.

"Romeo, your father has recently told me all about your lacrima", Master Makarov simply said.

Romeo's eyes go wide in fright, even though he knew this conversation was going to happen sooner or later…

"Honestly I don't know who the bigger idiot out of the two of you. You- Romeo, for suggesting the idea to have the lacrima implanted into you or you Macao, for agreeing with the idea. And I don't even want to begin to know how you got Jellal of all people to do it!" Master Makarov boomed as he blew steam out his nose.

"To be honest, it was an act of desperation if anything", Macao begun to explain, "Fairy Tail was at the bottom of the barrel for magic guild in Fiore if not the entire continent. We were barely scrapping by as a guild and even with Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus help we were still on the verge of disbanding. We needed powerful mages to get ourselves back up in the ranking and to be honest with everyone thought to be dead; our most powerful mage was Max and he no Gildarts. I saw this as an opportunity to train up a future ace that could get Fairy Tail back all the respect we lost over the years."

"That doesn't give you a reason to implant an unusual looking lacrima, that you had no idea what it was capable of, inside of an eleven-year old boy, let alone your son! He isn't a test subject!", Makarov screamed, "What if his body didn't fully accept it?! What if you have gotten someone else who wasn't as talented as Jellal to implant it?! Do you have any idea what could have happen?!"

"I was fully aware of the possible repercussions, even before Jellal explain them to me", Macao said.

"Me too!", Romeo finally spoke up, "It's my fault also for wanting to do this."

"That doesn't change the matter at hand. What you did was reckless Macao, especially for one who holds the title of The Fourth Guild Master of Fairy Tail!" Master Makarov ranted, "I myself have done some reckless things in the past, but only if I and I alone would've suffer the repercussions for it!"

Master Makarov stops yelling for a moment and crosses his arms, while closing his eyes. Both of the Conbolts are quiet as the Third Master appears to be deep in thought.

"Are you sure Jellal said the lacrima cannot be remove?" Master Makarov asked Macao.

Romeo spoke up to argue against the action when his father hand stops him.

"From what Jellal told me, the lacrima bonded with Romeo so well that removing it would cause more harm than good. And that was three years ago when he told me this. By now it should just be an extension of his body, no different than the one Laxus has." Macao answered.

"And it only causes a strain on him when he uses slayer magic?" Makarov asked.

"Correct. Romeo has shown no problems while using non-slayer type magic."

"What about his eyes? I noticed that they changed back when he passed out", Makarov stated.

"Only when I enter Dragon-Slayer mode do I get heighten senses like Natsu-nii and the others." Romeo explained, "Once I deactivated it, they go away."

"Very well", the master says as he uncrosses his arms.

"It seems you lack training in the ways of Fire Dragon-Slayer magic, so from this day forth you will take up tutelage under Nastu so that your flames can become stronger. Hopefully being more experience with Dragon Slayer magic will help you become better with the rest of your fire magic as well", Master Makarov announced while suppressing a smile as he saw the surprise expression start to form on Romeo's face.

"I-I-I", is all Romeo could stutter out.

"You get to be trained by Natsu, Romeo. Granted after he's done getting fixed up by Porlyusica. The guild hall didn't have the means to fix him after Erza and Lucy got done with him, so we had to drop him off at her place, and boy did that take some convincing. But then again, I did warn him about being too serious on you", Master Makarov said as he and Macao open the door to leave and Chelia appear as soon as they left.

Unfortunately, she enters the room just in time to see Romeo faint off the bed from the overwhelming news.

"AHHHH! Romeo!" is heard throughout the building, "Hang on my little firefly!"

**Minutes Later**

It took at least ten minutes but Chelia was able to bring him back to the world of the living. He then explained to her what the master had to say to him and his dad.

"So the old man is mad about your lacrima?" Chelia asked as she helped Romeo back onto the bed.

"Can't really blame him. It was a dangerous risk to take", Romeo answered while letting his eyes flicker away from her because he still felt guilty about it.

"But hey, on the bright side you get trained by your hero" Chelia pointed out as sat down right next to him, "This must dream come true for you."

"It is. I'm super excited about this, but I'm also afraid."

"Afraid of what?" The God-Slayer asked.

"About whether or not I can live up to Natsu-nii's standard. I mean compare to him, my flames could barely light a campfire", Romeo frowned at the thought causing Chelia to flick him on the forehead.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Romeo cried out from the sudden "attack" before rubbing the spot she just hit.

"To knock some sense into you. You're worrying about living up to standards that haven't even been set yet. I mean, you spar with me on a regular occurrence and with Jura, who's a Saint Wizard, in case you forgot. I'm pretty sure you can keep up with Natsu's training," Chelia scowls him while healing his head injury, "You were doing just fine when you thought he was dead and you'll do just fine now that he's alive."

"Still that doesn't mean I'm not worried about it." Romeo grumbled.

"It's fine to be worried about something as long as you don't let it consume you" Chelia advised, "I used to be worried that Master Ooba would kick me out of Lamia Scale because I could barely make the monthly requirement for jobs due to my singing career, but we reach a compromise that as long as I complete one job request a month on top of coming on these visits, I would be fulfilling my quota."

"And here I thought you were only coming to see me." Romeo joked.

"For the last six months to eight months, yes, you were the main reason I came here. But before that it was because I had to so I could stay in Lamia Scale" Chelia giggles before deciding to have a little fun, "Oh, my deepest apologies, my little firefly! I'm so sorry for not being fully honest with you! Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

"That wasn't necessary, but okay fine. I forgive you." Romeo says with a knowing smile.

"That's good to hear. Well I have to go now, but I'll see you at the concert okay?" Chelia says as she gets up.

"I'll be there for sure." He responds before he watches her go to close the door but right before she closes it she sticks her head out and waves goodbye. Romeo waves his arm as a goodbye which made Chelia giggle at the sight of her mummified boyfriend wildly waving his cast in the air.

The door clicked shut so he fell back into the bed with an audible groan. "That girl's going to be the death of me." Romeo tells himself before he goes back to sleep with a smile on his face and allows his body some much-needed rest.

Chelia is walking toward her follow Lamia Scale members when she spots Wendy sitting at a table, talking to Carla. She stops right next to her fellow Sky Slayer.

"Please take care of Romeo for me. It's bad enough that I worry about him while I'm away singing all over the place. Now I'll have to worry about him being trained by the man who put him in his current condition", Chelia complained, though she was grateful for Wendy's help in fixing up her boyfriend after the match.

Wendy nods her head and gives Chelia a smile, "Don't worry Chelia; I'll take good care of him."

"Thank you Wendy, hope to see you again soon", Chelia says as she leaves with her guild.

**A Few Days Later**

The marketplace of Magnolia was famous throughout all of Fiore for its vast selection of stores and vendor stalls. People from all over the country would visit it while shopping for the latest fashions, toys, or even jewelry. And while it was at its busiest from noon to the evening, the crowds would always die out around the time the sun started to set…

This was the perfect time to browse, at least in Romeo's mind it was…

The young fire mage been exhausted for the past few days from training with his idol, and even at one point he had to be carried home by his father. But luckily today Natsu and Happy decided to follow Lucy on a personal trip to see her father, while Master Makarov, Erza, and Mira were paying a visit to the Twilight Ogre Guild Hall.

"Wish I could be there for that", Romeo chuckled wishing he had been at the guild hall when the bastards decided to wreck the place just as the Tenrou group was showing back up, but he was running late that day while trying to avoid the crowds of people in the marketplace, apparently all the stores were having huge sales that day.

Anyways, back to the reason Romeo was window shopping. Turns out Chelia's concert here in two days was going to be a larger event than anyone thought at first, including Chelia. Her agency had brokered a deal with all the other major music agencies across Ishgar and it was decided upon that not only was Chelia going to singing in Haragon, but she would be performing along with almost every major singing idol and group on the continent at the midnight event. Magazines across the country were saying how it was going to be the biggest concert ever, news stations on media lacrimas were talking about how thousands upon thousands of people are expecting to show up, and tickets are selling out within minutes of them being available to buy, despite the sudden change at such short notice.

Chelia has been busy getting prepared for it with help from Sherry, who happens to be her new agent after she fired her last agent, Charlie Striker, for not allowing her to take more time off between gigs. Romeo smiles as he remembers that memory and how it only came about because he had said something about it. Unfortunately, even with her cousin being more flexible than Charlie ever was, Chelia was still in Haragon doing rehearsals, last minute changes, posing for pictures, and pretty much everything else that goes into preparing for a concert of this magnitude.

Because of that, Romeo, in a rare moment of being a considerate...boyfriend, decided to get Chelia a gift to commemorate this event and all her hard work, but he has looked for almost an hour now and the stores were beginning to close.

As he wandered past a clothes store, the setting sun light bounces off of something from across the marketplace square and right into Romeo eyes. As he turns to see what it was he lets out a gasp…

There it was: an exquisitely made, hand-crafted, golden chain necklace with small, glistening blue diamonds lining the sides and at its center was an encased, sparkling reddish pink diamond that reminded him of the stones he usually skips across the lake, especially when it hits the water casting the remaining sunlight to dazzle across the surrounding area.

Romeo doesn't remembering moving but one minute he is across the market square and the next moment he is pressed against the jewelry store window, staring through the glass at the necklace. The blue gems remind Romeo of Chelia's eyes whenever she gave him her signature "love stare". While the diamond in the center bared resemblance to the color of Chelia's hair without a doubt, even he could easily see this. It was during that moment of reminisce that Romeo spotted a sign next to the piece of jewelry, and it read:

**The Shimmering Sky**

**One of our more exotic pieces. This necklace is flank on both sides with precision cut blue diamonds hailing from the country of Sin, while the Pink Star diamond in its center originates from the scorching hot desert sands of Desierto.**

**Due to the impurities found within this Pink Star, it has an amaranth coloring to it instead of its natural pure pink color. Because of this the value has dropped to about four hundred thousand jewels.**

"Four hundred thousand jewels!" Romeo voice rings throughout the marketplace causing a few remaining shopper to glance in his direction.

"I don't have nowhere near enough to buy this, but I know she would love it!", Romeo ranted as he ruffled his hair, "Damn that girl for making care about her enough that I go out of my way to buy her a gift!"

As Romeo walked away in anger, he ponders over what he could do to raise the money within two days.

" _There's no way I can borrow from the guild's funds for this, and I hardly doubt dad has the money to spare, along with anyone else at the guild hall. Crap, I need a high paying job, but I can't go on one unless one of the older members goes with me. What the hell am I going to do?"_ he wondered as he sulked home to sleep on it, not noticing that a pair of eyes was watching him from the store window.

**The Next Day**

Romeo was late, oh sweet magic gods was he late. He had spend half the night worrying about how he was going to raise enough money that he slept through his alarm. Training with Natsu started early in the morning around the same time Mira, Lisanna, and Kinana got to the guild hall to open it up. But by the time Romeo gets there everyone else would already be there.

"Why the hell didn't my old man wake me up as he left for the day?!" Romeo yelled out as he sprinted through the back-alleys that would lead him to the guild so he could avoid the busy streets of Magnolia.

As he took the dirt road that led into the forest toward the guild hall, he began to wonder once more how was he going to get enough money for the necklace when he notices something peculiar going on in front of the guild hall.

Everyone was dancing.

Everyone was paired up with a partner and was ball-room dancing across the open field in front of the guild hall. Wendy was dancing with Warren, Happy was dancing with Carla, and even Pantherlily was trying to waltz with Asuka, which was kind of funny when Romeo stopped and thought about it. There was a cat, dancing with a six-year old girl, whose parents were dancing right next to them and they seemed to be okay with it.

"Okay, what did I miss?", Romeo asks as he walks to the group and sees Master Makarov in front of the guild hall watching with a smile on his face.

"Oh Romeo, you're late this morning", Master Makarov said as the boy comes up right next to him, "From what I've seen and been told, you're usually one of the first people here."

"Forgive me, Master Makarov. I slept through my alarm this morning", Romeo apologizes as he slightly bows toward the shorter man.

"It's alright; you wouldn't have been able to practice with Natsu anyway. Lucy's been trying to get him ready for their big job tomorrow night", Master Makarov told Romeo.

"What big job?" Romeo asked as Master Makarov proceeded to hand him a job request poster.

"Count Balsamico is throwing a magical ball and he believes that the rogue mage Velveno is going to show up", the master said.

"Why's that?"

"Doesn't say, but the reward for catching him is four million jewels."

" _Four million jewels!"_ Romeo thinks, "Who's going on the job?"

"Well I believe it's: Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Elfman, Warren, Erza, Wendy, Happy, and Carla."

"Is-Is there room for one more?" Romeo asked, fearful of the answer, " _If I get in on this job I could get a split of half a million jewels as my reward! I could easily buy the necklace and have some money left over!"_

Makarov looks at the young mage and gives him the once over while rubbing his chin.

"Hmmm. That's right; you just became an active member only a couple of months ago and haven't been on many jobs. Normally I would want you to have a bit more experience before going on a job like this, but seeing how it's a simple mission and you'll be along several experienced mages, I don't see why not. The job is tomorrow night, so make sure you're packed and ready to go."

"Yes! Thank you, Master Makarov!" Romeo says before a thought hits him, "Wait, did you say tomorrow night?"

"That I did, is that a problem for you?" Master Makarov asked.

Romeo, not wanting to openly admit that he actually going out of his way to get something nice for Chelia, bends down and whispers into Makarov's ear.

"Okay. I see. That is a problem. I understand. Alright then." Master Makarov says while nodding his head. He then tells Romeo in a low voice, "The Count's palace is not far from here, probably a two to three hour walk at best and most dances like this don't last very long. Capture Velveno, collect your reward and you should be able to make it back in time. Then you should be able to get to the store before it closes and the concert afterward. I'll tell Erza, who will be leading the job that you have my permission to leave early upon getting your share of the reward."

"Thank you, master. This means a lot to me", Romeo says as he takes off inside the guild hall.

"Anytime my son, though if I could suggest one thing", Master Makarov began to say as he nudges Romeo in the gut while suggestively lifting his eyebrows, "Try to get the necklace engraved. The ladies love it when you get them jewelry with their name or whatever engraved into it."

Romeo could only blush at this piece of advice before nervously nodding his head and walking into the guild hall.

Unbeknownst to him or even Master Makarov, Wendy was listening to their little exchange even though she was dancing with Warren in the middle of the field. It would seem that both mages had forgotten that while Wendy wasn't on the same level of power as Natsu and Gajeel, her hearing was just as good as theirs, even better when you consider she is great at just picking up on the voices around her. She heard the hushed talk between the two of them as if she was standing right next to them, despite being several yards away and with a lot background noises on top of that. She knows how rude it is to listen in on people's private conversations and she been told by both Lucy and Levy that some people at the guild would not appreciate her doing that. But that wasn't bothering her, what was bothering her was the Fourth Guild Master's son. Ever since Romeo's and Natsu's "fight" she found herself just randomly watching the purple-haired boy as he went about his day. This usually only happens twice a day, but during those time she has observe some things.

She noticed whenever he wasn't training with Natsu, he was either doing some personal training on his own or he was reading book off in the corner of the hall. He had limited interaction with the guild members in general, only really taking time out of his day to play with Asuka whenever the little girl was looking for a playmate. Romeo would usually make a few fire constructs to entertain the girl while he still read his book.

But one time Asuka climbed on to the table to catch one of his fire swallows and lost her footing. Faster than she could react Romeo had already closed the book he was reading and caught her by her ankle. While Asuka was giggling at being suspended upside down and thought it was a game; Wendy's heart was beating so fast she worried it would have left her chest! What surprised her was how fast his reaction to Asuka being in danger was. It only made her want to watch him more.

Now her observations would normally last for a few minutes at best before she went back to doing whatever she was doing beforehand and it would be hours before the boy would pop back up into her thoughts.

This whole observing people thing wasn't anything new for her either, because she has watch Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and the others go about their day. It's just the first time she decided to watch Romeo, seeing just how different he was from when he was seven-years old. But what really pique her attention a little was when Romeo mention the gift he was trying to buy for Chelia in his conversation with Master.

" _So Romeo is trying to buy a gift for Chelia in honor of her hard work huh? That's awfully sweet of him",_ was the Sky Dragon Slayer thoughts before she turns her attention back to her dance partner.

**Meanwhile with Mira**

" _Dammit! That was a perfect opportunity to get Romeo and Wendy to dance together. All because I was stopped by Macao and Wakaba arguing over who gets to dance with me! I have the worse luck! And what the hell is Warren's problem, asking Wendy to dance?! I may need to have a chat with him later on…"_

**The Next Night**

The guild members of Fairy Tail were on their way to Count Balsamico's Palace as they walked down the dirt road which led to it. While most of the members were having idle chit-chat, Romeo on the other hand was coming up with a plan on how he can make it from here to Magnolia and to Haragon afterward. He was able to get a message to Sherry to tell Chelia that he may be late getting to her concert because he would be coming back from a job. He said that he has to do this job to fill his monthly quota, which wasn't a lie because this job would fill up his job request requirement for the month.

" _Aw man, this guy better show up so I can get paid. I need to get the money, haul my ass back to Magnolia, hopefully get there before the jewelry store closed, and then haul ass to Haragon. All of this depends on whether or- Why is Wendy staring at me?"_ Romeo was thinking before he noticed that the blue-haired mage was focusing on him.

"Everything okay there, Wendy?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Romeo, I didn't mean to stare", Wendy apologizes as she feels are cheeks reddening from embarrassment.

"It's alright, you just looked like you zoned out for a minute", Romeo noticed, "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It just I never been to a dance like this before."

"Me either", Romeo told her, "In fact, I never been dancing."

"Really?", Wendy asked, "Not even once?"

Well I have dance with Celia before; usually inside the guild hall or in the forest but that's about it", Romeo admitted.

"Oh", Wendy replied, "That sounded like it was nice."

"It was until she started kissing me on the cheek constantly", Romeo complained though deep down he enjoyed those moments.

While the two young teenagers had a friendly chat, the Strauss brother who was behind them was having an internal mental breakdown.

" _How did I get myself drag into this mess?"_ Elfman asks himself as he remembers back to earlier today.

**Flashback (You should be used to these by now)**

" _I don't why Evergreen seems so mad about me taking this dance job. I need the money dammit and it's none of that insufferable woman's business what jobs I take! I'm a man!"_ Elfman thinks to himself as he headed for the guild hall to meet up with the rest of the group that was going on the job. Earlier today when Evergreen found out that Elfman was going to be dancing with other women in order to blend in with the crowd, she erupted on him in a rage that made the anger she display at Tenrou Island seem like a small child throwing a tantrum. But for the life of him, Elfman couldn't figure out why.

He was deep in thought as he approaches the guild hall when he felt a tap on his shoulder. As he looks behind him, he comes face to face with both his older and younger sister.

"Mira? Lisanna? What going on? Is there something you need?" Elfman asked before suddenly backing away as both Mira and Lisanna dawn sinister smirks.

"Oh nothing, dear brother", Lisanna says as the two began to casually stroll toward him while still smiling, "We just need you to do a favor for us while you're at the dance."

"A-A-And what would that be?", Elfman stammers out as he continues to back away from his sisters until he finally backs up into a tree and suddenly feels like a mouse trapped in a corner.

"It simple really", Mira explains, "We just need you to make sure a certain Fire Dragon-Slayer dances with a certain Sky Dragon-Slayer."

Both Mira and Lisanna sworn they could literally hear the gears working inside of Elfman's head.

"You want Natsu to have a dance with Wendy?", The middle Strauss sibling asked and is barely able to move his head out of the way before a fist collides with the tree behind him, leaving a giant hole in its wake.

"Silly Elfman, I meant the younger Fire Dragon-Slayer", Mira laughs demonically as Lisanna looks on with a hard glare, "Now all you have to do is make sure they dance or else."

"Or else", Elfman gulps, "what?"

"Or else Evergreen finds out about those very explicit X-rated dreams you've had about her ever since we got back", Lisanna states causing Elfman to turn ghostly white, "You're not exactly quiet about them when you talk in your sleep, and we have a recording of it as well."

"Now you be a good dear brother and do as your sisters ask, okay?" Mira sings as she removes her fist from the tree and begins to walk away, with Lisanna following her as she walked by.

The sisters are about ten feet away when suddenly Mira stops and turns around.

"Oh, and you can't let either Romeo or Wendy know that we had a hand in it. You'll have to come up with something on your own for that and we will be asking the girls, including Wendy once they come back, so we'll catch you later Elfman."

**Back to the Now**

" _And now we're here"_ Elfman thinks as the castle comes into view, " _But hey, how hard can it be for a man like me to get these two to dance together?"_

**A While Later**

" _This is so unfair and unmanly!",_ Elfman internally screamed as he surveys the dancing hall at the magical ball before looking up at the roof where Warren had set up his surveillance lacrima alongside Carla, Happy, and…

"Hey Romeo, you okay over there?" Warren asked as he kept an eye on the lacrima looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, I'm fine", the boy said as he looks down through a skylight window at the guests as they dance around the hall and on top of the floating platforms.

" _You would think that dancing on small floating platforms would be a safety issue or something",_ Romeo thought, " _Also who throws a ball for mages only? Sound pretty discriminate when you think about it."_

Romeo was doing his part of the job and gave Fairy Tail another set of eyes to watch from above, and besides, he would rather be up here than down there with the large gathering of people.

To say the night had been frustrating would be an understatement. From the fact that the Velveno still haven't shown up yet to the fact that Elfman wouldn't stop asking him if he wanted to come down and dance with Wendy. When he questioned the towering man on why he wants him to dance with her, Elfman would simply rant off something about trees and scramble away only to ask again a few minutes later.

 _"Don't know why he so insisted on having dance with Wendy. She seems to be having a great time dancing with that blonde hair kid right now",_ Romeo thought.

It would be sometime later after Elfman's last attempt that Romeo overheard Happy's and Carla's conversation as the blue-haired exceed tried and fail to get the psychic exceed to dance with him. He now saw out of the corner of his eye that the cat with addiction for fish was sulking over to him.

"Hey Happy", Romeo greets him as the cat sits down next to him with the most depressing looking face Romeo has ever seen.

Happy was quiet for a moment and Romeo felt the urge to cheer him up. He was just about to looking away from the dance hall to speak when Happy beat him to the punch.

"How did you do it Romeo?" Happy sniffled.

"How did I do what?" Romeo responded as he kept looking down the window while wondering what Happy meant.

"How did you get a girlfriend?"

Romeo eyes grow to the size of dinner plates and his voice gets caught in his throat as he turns to look at Happy with an astound look on his face.

"What?!"

"How did you get a girlfriend? Please, you must tell me how you did it! Next to Alzack and Bisca, and maybe Wakaba, there's no one else who could help me!" Happy begged as he got on his knees and shaking his paws, "Surely you must have done something to get Chelia to like you!"

"Happy, it's not like we started dating the very first day we met!" Romeo tried to tell Happy.

"Could have fooled me with all ya bickering that day" Warren mumbled while still watching the lacrima.

"Then how did you two get together?" Happy wondered, "Surely it must have been something!"

Romeo starts to think back to the time he first met Chelia and how their relationship has changed since then.

He remembered their first of many arguments, their first of many (physical) fights, the time Chelia needed a shoulder to cry on when the stress of being a pop idol became too much for her. He remembers the day the paparazzi wouldn't stop pursuing her throughout Magnolia and he let her hide out at his house. The two of them shared some very personal memories with one another on his couch. Then when they found out that the paparazzi were still lurking around the town in mass, he decided to let her spend the night while his dad was working late at the guild hall with Jura and Ichiya. He remembers the rude awakening he had with his father when he came home the next morning to find him lying on the couch while Chelia was laying on top of him with nothing but an oversize t-shirt on that hid her short shorts underneath. They were able to convince his father that nothing happened between them that night, but that didn't stop either one of them from looking at each other a little different then on.

Then he remembers the day that they were alone at the Fairy Tail guild hall with the only other person there being Asuka while the rest of the guys alongside Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus were out clearing Mt. Hakobe of its rapidly growing Vulcan population that was starting to attack the local villages in the area. Chelia couldn't go because Sherry didn't want to risk her getting hurt seeing how she just got done doing a concert the day before and had another concert the next day and wanted her to have some time to rest in between. That day stood out amongst all the other because of the fact that Romeo learned through Lyon that Chelia was persistent in wanting to come to Fairy Tail that day, despite her exhausted condition, for reasons she would not disclose to anyone, not even Sherry. But Romeo remembers all the knowing looks Chelia got from Sherry, Bisca, and Mrs. Mine (who was there to drop off Wakaba's lunch) that day and also the ones he got from his father, Wakaba, and Alzack when he volunteered to stay behind and keep her company while also babysitting Asuka.

Romeo cheeks started to redden as he began to remember what happen after-

" _Romeo!"_ a voice suddenly yelled into his mind causing him to be violently snapped out of his trip down memory lane.

"What?!" he yelled back at Warren.

"I have been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes. Velveno showed up and is attempting to steal the Count's ring!" Warren told him.

"Okay! Natsu-nii and them are down there! They should be able to handle it!" Romeo told him.

"Have you not been paying attention to what's going on down there?! Elfman down, Lucy is down, Gray on the verge of collapsing from his wound, and Erza, Natsu, and Wendy are barely holding their own against him!" Warren explained to Romeo.

Romeo looks back down through the window at the dance hall and saw that Warren was correct.

Elfman was lying passed out on top of a broken table while Lucy was slumped up against the wall, unconscious. Romeo noticed that Gray was clutching his side in pain while lying on the floor behind a table while Wendy tries frantically to heal him. Meanwhile Natsu and Erza were both squaring up against a man with an oval face, crazy-looking eyes, a weird looking afro and a face framed by slightly pointed ears. He had a weird looking goatee that formed a swirl of hair near the base of his chin.

As he puffs his cigar, he gave off a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha! Is this the best the once powerful and famous guild, Fairy Tail can do? No wonder you're considered the weakest guild in the country!"

Romeo notices that Natsu had an Iron Fist ready in one hand while Erza was Requiped into Purgatory Armor with her mace at the ready.

"What happen?" Romeo asked.

"Exactly what the master feared might happen", Warren answered.

"What?"

"Master Makarov pulled me aside and told me that he feared that since our major hitters were stuck in a time freeze while the rest of the world moved on, they could be behind in the power curve. It's the reason why he allowed so many of the guys who went to Tenrou to come along on this job. He hoped that with their numbers they'd be able to overcome Velveno, but he seems to be just too much for them. If this was seven years ago, Gray would have been able to handle this guy no problem, but too much time has passed and Velveno has only gotten stronger while they stay the same", Warren said.

"So what do we do?" Romeo asked.

"I don't know. For now, the ring is safe, Erza was able to stop him from reaching it, but if something isn't done quickly, he's going to take the ring and we are going to fail this job."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

**Chelia's Day and Romeo vs. Velveno**

"Let's get more light on the right side! I want less bass in the speakers! Can someone please find the last two back-up singers; they're ready to start rehearsing again in five minutes!" A multitude of voices yelled out on the open grass field just outside of Haragon as hundreds of people scramble around to make sure everything was ready for the night major event.

Singers from all across the continent show up either via airship or express train to perform on the largest stage the land has ever seen. Some of the biggest names in the music industry would be performing, from living legends who songs have woven their ways into people hearts for decades to the newest stars just starting their climb to fame.

And off in the corner, away from wandering eyes, Chelia was finally getting off her feet and collapsing down in a chair.

"Oh gods, been on my feet all day", Chelia rejoice as she revels in the fact that she could finally kick her legs up and have a moment's peace.

And that when Jenny, who would be hosting tonight event, decided to show up…

"Oh, there you are. They're looking for you; you know?" the blonde model asked.

"You never saw me, got it?" Chelia pleaded, wanting at least five minutes to herself.

"Long day?" Jenny asked.

"You wouldn't believe. First, it was song rehearsals, photo shoots, and interviews. Rinse, wash, repeat until I'm running on autopilot through it all.", Chelia complains as she puts her face in her hands, "And it's always the same questions: Do you have a boyfriend yet? If you do, are we ever going to meet him? Gods, I wish Romeo was here. At least he could keep me company, but Sherry told me he's out on a job and may be late for the show tonight."

Jenny pulls up a seat next to the slayer and puts a hand on her back. She looks over her shoulder to make sure they're alone before speaking.

"So how are things going with you and lover boy?" Jenny asked.

"Same as usual. Walks through the forest, picnics, spending time at the guild hall", Chelia tells her causing Jenny to shake her head a little.

"Honestly Chelia, I don't see how you do it."

"Do what?" the singer asks.

"Put up with the fact that your little boyfriend is afraid to take you out on a proper date", Jenny tells her.

"You know the reason he can't", Chelia tells her, a little annoy at Jenny's statement.

"I fully aware of that fact, but if he really loves you he would try to get over it", Jenny states.

"He IS trying to get over it", Chelia's voice harden, "And the last thing he needs is me or anyone else pressuring him."

"Okay, okay", Jenny holds her hands up, "Just trying to make sure you're happy. Most girls wouldn't put up with a boyfriend who doesn't want to take them out on the town."

"In case you have forgotten, I'm not like most girls", Chelia proudly stated.

"No, you definitely are not", Jenny said as she looks over her shoulder and saw one of the director coming toward them.

"Chelia dear, there you are. We got another photo shoot set up for you with Megan in an hour that we're going to use for the posters", he says causing Chelia to groan, quite loudly too, "But first you got an interview with Jason now."

"Oh gods, not Megan again!" Chelia complains, "I'm seriously going to blow her away one of these days!"

"Now, now, calm down", Jenny says, "She's not all that bad."

"You're not the one who has to deal with her", Chelia mumbles as Jenny, the director, and herself start to walk back to the main area of the setup for the concert.

Soon they came upon an area that packed to the brim with cameras, photographers, and the famous (or infamous depending on who you ask) reporter of Sorcerer Magazine, Jason.

"So COOOOOOOOL!" he screams out in a voice that causes both Chelia and Jenny to cringe as they approach.

"So how many interviews have you done with this guy?" Chelia whispers to Jenny.

"Five", the model answers, "And I swear my hearing get worse every time, you?"

"Three, luckily my hearing ability fixes whatever damage he causes", Chelia responds as she strolls over to where the reporter has set up and takes a seat in one of the chairs.

"Hi everyone! Sorcerer Magazine #1 reporter Jason here at the preparation for the biggest music event of the year! No, of the century! No, of the millennium! No, even that's not enough! Of all eternity!" Jason's voice carried throughout the entire area as the blonde hair reporter spoke into a floating lacrima.

" _I swear he knows some form of sound magic for his voice to have this much volume to it_ ," Chelia thought as she kept a smile on her face as she readies herself for the inevitable onslaught of questions.

"And I got a backstage pass to it all! First up on my list is the most popular singer in Fiore, and one of the most popular singers on the continent! The Sky God-Slayer of Lamia Scale, Chelia Blendy!

"Thanks for having me again, Jason", Chelia half-lied as she rather be anywhere else but here.

"And it's good to have you with us again, Chelia! Now let's get down to business! I know you still have a lot to do to get ready for tonight! So first question: How does it feel knowing that you're the opening act for one of the largest events in music history?

"It's an honor really. To think that I have already reached this level in my singing career is truly amazing!" Chelia responds to his question.

"Okay, second question: How are you able to juggle your singing career along with being one of the top mages for the second best guild in Fiore?"

" _Did you really have to throw in that second best bit_?", Chelia thought as she fought to control her annoyance, "At first, it was difficult to manage both of them at once, but thanks to the understanding of my Guild Master and my cousin Sherry, who also my manager, I was able to reach a compromise between the two."

"That's so COOOOOOOOL!", Jason unleash his signature line that almost force Chelia to cover her ears as her healing magic had to work overtime to repair her eardrums.

"Alright, third question: What's your relationship with Megan Trya?" Jason asked.

" _She's an orange-haired bitch and I want to blow her off of Mt. Hakobe. Then use my healing magic to somehow revive her and do it again. And again. And again until I get bored, which would take a long time to do._ ", is what Chelia wanted to say.

Megan Trya was the teenage pop idol sensation from the country of Bellum, a country to the far east of Fiore. With her long, waving orange hair to her emerald-green eyes compliment by her voluptuous chest (not as big as Chelia, but still pretty stack) and hourglass figure, she was every teenage boy (and pervert old man) fantasy and she was the number one singer in Ishgar... At least until Chelia came on the scene. Megan started her singing career a mere three months before Chelia and quickly rose to the top of the charts. But once Chelia enter the stage, she just as quickly got push to second place, though it wasn't because Chelia's singing was better than hers. The two have been neck and neck with one another in album sales for quite a while now, with sometimes the winner only beating the loser by a mere half-dozen records or so for that month. So what made Chelia the more popular idol in Ishgar?

Two words: Guild Mage.

Megan could use magic, in fact, she used earth magic. Nowhere close to that of Jura and she couldn't lay a hand on Chelia with her God-Slayer magic, but she was proficient with it. But she wasn't a guild mage. She felt that it would have interfered with her singing career and that's where Chelia had her beat.

The fact that this teenage girl had a highly successful singing career and yet still chose to take time out of her busy schedule to personally handle job requests for her guild, easily won her the hearts of kids, teenager, and adults all across the land. And Megan hated her guts because of that. She and Chelia have had their…. disagreements every time they met, but it was always behind closed doors.

"Megan and I have mutual respect for one another, despite being from rival music companies. We also get along quite well at events where we should so happen to meet up at", Chelia lied through her teeth.

"It's wonderful to hear that you two can put your differences aside and be friendly with one another!", Jason gushed, "Alright now to the fourth and final question! And it's the one our viewers are always wanting us to ask you!

" _Oh magic gods, here it comes_ ", Chelia thought as she prepares to tell Jason the same answer she has told him and over a dozen other reporters before.

"Alright Chelia, do you have a boyfriend yet?" Jason asks and leans in close to hear her answer. Chelia also happens to notice out of the corner of her eyes that a number of the supporting crew and people walking by have also stop to hear what she had to say. Chelia takes a deep breath and lets out an internal sigh about how people really need to mind their own damn business these days.

"I haven't found anyone yet. I'm waiting for the right guy to show up in my life", Chelia tells the reporter while thinking, " _I actually already found the right guy, I just don't want to subjugate him to the crazy circus we call the media_."

"Aww, that's too bad. I'm sure you'll find the perfect guy someday", Jason assured Chelia as he patted her hand, "But promise me that once you do, that I get to talk to him first, okay?"

"You got it, Jason. Take care now.", Chelia says as she gets up and walks away, " _If the day ever comes when I have to get Romeo to sit through an interview with you, I better remember to have some magic earplugs on hand along with a sincere apology._ "

Chelia rushes over to where Jenny was waiting for her, quickly wanting to put as much distance between her and any more reporters before her photo shoot.

"Whoa, slow down there!" Jenny yells as Chelia takes her by the arm, "What the big hurry?"

"Because at events like these when one reporter done interviewing me, ever other reporter wants to have a shot at me and I don't have time for that now", Chelia explains as they go back to the spot where Jenny first found her.

"Why don't you just give them what they want and tell them about Romeo?" Jenny asked, "Eventually the truth is going to come out. At the very least it would reduce the number of love letters you get."

Chelia shivers at the mere mention of the countless letters she gets every day of people from all over the land proclaiming their pure, eternal, everlasting, love for her. She has even gotten proposals! And they range from the very young to the extremely old, from the filthy rich to the stinking poor, including nobles. And the weirdest part of all was that not all of them were from guys.

Jenny lets out a breath, "I don't get you Chelia. Romeo isn't exactly boring by any standards, but he's nothing compare to some of the other guys vying for your heart. They're super rich, he can barely afford his own clothes. They are known throughout the continent, he's the son of the guild master of the lowest ranking magic guild in all of Ishgar. They're tall and muscular, and while he does have some muscles on him, you're able to rest your head on top of his when both of you are standing up, so he's a little on the short side. I fail to see what you see in him and personally I think you could do better."

Jenny turns to see an annoyed looking Chelia puffing out her cheeks.

"So be honest with me Chelia, what do you see in this guy? What does he got that makes you turn down all the others?", Jenny asked as she ignores the look she getting from Chelia.

Chelia irritated look is replaced with a smile as her face starts to glow red, catching Jenny completely off-guard as well as her cousin Sherry who was sneaking up on them while they were talking in order to get Chelia ready for her photo shoot.

" _Oh my, it has been quite a while since I last seen Chelia blush like that._ " The older Blendy woman thinks.

" _Is Chelia Blendy blushing over a guy? No way_!" Jenny thinks.

"He was the first guy ever to tell me that I wasn't special. For a girl like me who uses to being told how beautiful and amazing she is by everyone she meets, that meant a lot."

**Back at the Count's Palace**

Natsu and Erza were at one end of the dance hall, facing off against Velveno, who was on the other.

Thanks to Erza tactical sense she was able to maneuver the remaining Fairy Tail members so that they blocked Velveno from getting to the ring.

" _Wendy_!" Erza calls out to the Dragon-Slayer via Warren's telepathic link without taking her eyes off of Velveno, " _How is Gray doing_?!"

The young mage continues to heal Gray as she replies, _"I was able to close up the wound he received from Velveno's Purgatory Armor Spiked Mace, but he won't be able to fight after the amount of blood he lost! I'll see to Elfman and Lucy as soon as I'm done with him_!"

" _Damn it_!" Erza curses, " _Looks like it's just you and me, Natsu_!"

" _Let me have another go at him Erza! I'm really fired up now_!" the pink-haired mage roars as he charges forward toward Velveno, his fist encased in flames.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist**!"

"Oh, so we're doing this again, are we?!" Velveno laughs as his own hand does the same.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist**!" he shouts as he collide his punch with Natsu's and to Romeo surprise, overpowers him. Romeo can only watch in horror as Natsu is easily sent flying past Erza into the staircase next to Wendy and Gray.

"This is...why...you don't...go rushing into a fight, Flame Brain", Gray croaks out, still feeling weak from the loss of blood.

"It's time you shut it, ice princess." Natsu gripped the stairs and his hands ignited in anger. "That way I can take all the credit when I beat this guy all by myself!" He had a fierce look on his face as he rocketed off the stairs straight into Velveno.

"I can't just stand here and watch anymore!" Romeo quickly found the latch on the sky light and flipped the glass open.

"Hold on Romeo! We need a plan or back-up or something!" Warren stood up and went to grab onto the back of his shirt to stop him from jumping down. "The drop is too high anyways! You will seriously hurt yourself before you even fight!"

" _Just a little closer…sorry Romeo but this is for the best_." Warren planned to knock him unconscious with a telekinetic attack as soon as he grabbed him. It wasn't his idea but the master's if Romeo was going to act reckless and get himself hurt, " _Macao_ _would never forgive me if something happened to you on my watch_.

Romeo turned around with a fierce look in his eyes that stopped Warren cold.

"I can't just let Natsu-nii and the others get hurt if I can do something! I'm a Fairy Tail wizard!" He took one step backward and with his arms stretched out, he fell backwards through the skylight.

"ROMEO!" Warren leapt out and tried to grab him before he fell. Warren stumbled a little and fell to his knees right before the edge. As his hands tightly curled around the edge of skylight, he watched as Romeo was falling from the 60-foot drop.

Romeo acted quickly and turned his body so he was facing the ground. His eye caught on one of the many unused levitating platforms and ignited his fist in a purple flame.

" **Purple Flare: Whip**!" The sticky flame wrapped around one of the platforms and he let his body act like a pendulum as he swung through the air. Romeo was still moving too fast as he was now swinging into a group of those platforms.

" **Purple Flare: Orbs**!" Two purple orbs latched onto his feet and as soon as his feet made contact with the bottom of a platform his feet stuck to it. Now he was suspended upside down several feet above the ground and slowly the other platforms that were pushed away during his landing were closing in on him.

" _I need to figure out a way to beat this guy. I lost my cool fighting Natsu but now I just need to find this guy's weakness_." Romeo looked past the other platforms through the small gaps between them to find that no one noticed his flashy arrival. Natsu and Velveno were exchanging blows but it was clear that Natsu was taking more damage than he was dishing out.

" _Warren_ _! You said earlier that Erza intercepted him from getting the ring! How did that go down_?"

" _Velveno used Wendy's Sky Dragon Roar to get the ring out of its holder and was trying to use the wind to bring it to him! But Erza attacked him while he was reaching for it and manage to make him miss grabbing it! It's over there by the staircase on the other side of Wendy and Gray_!" Warren informs him. Romeo looks across room to see the ring laying there by the staircase.

" _Why has no one made a grab for it_?" Romeo questions, " _It's why we're here! To protect it_!"

" _Happy and Carla try to make a grab for it earlier, but Velveno used his Sky Dragon Roar to blow them back up the stairs_!" Warren says.

" _Okay, so he knows Wendy's Sky Dragon Roar and has used it twice, so that means he definitely copied Wendy's magic_." Romeo made a note of that before he looked back over at the ring and slowly used his purple flare to reach for it. "I better just grab it now while he is still distracted," Romeo tells himself before he turns his attention back to the fight where Erza was beginning her assault against Velveno.

Erza swiftly moved behind him and with her purgatory sword equipped, she sliced at Velveno's back. But he turned around and with Erza-like speed he transformed into a mirrored purgatory armor. Using agility that caught her off guard he defended against the surprise attack.

"It's like there is no time difference when he changes magics." Romeo bit his lower lip out of habit and focused on Erza's fight while she was still holding her ground against him. A few seconds later Velveno seemed to grow stronger and overpowered her with a powerful swing.

"That's weird. If he was that strong then why didn't he send her away immediately? It was like he matched her but…" Romeo eyes narrowed at him but still couldn't figure out what Velveno was doing. "I still need more time to think but thankfully Natsu and Erza are keeping him busy so I will wait here and-"

"You losers should just stay down." Standing in the middle of the dance hall, Velveno took a deep breath of his cigar before letting out a large puff of smoke. Romeo looks around the dance hall to see that Natsu was lying knock out in the middle of the stairs while Erza was covered in bruises and struggling to use one of her swords to stand up. Velveno taps his cigar a few times to shake off the loose embers, making sure not to get any on his still clean white suit. "I have bigger things planned for the night than fighting you guys so you…"

He pointed his cigar right at Wendy who was still healing Gray.

"Need to stop. Now." Velveno put his cigar in his mouth before a large swirl of wind wrapped around his right fist. " **Sky Dragon's Wave Wind**!" He pulled his fist back and was about to send a blast of wind at Wendy and Gray to keep her from healing the others.

"Oi. She's off-limits." Velveno struggled to throw his fist forward as a purple fire whip was holding his arm back. He let the wind around his hand dissipate and the purple flare whip fell away as Velveno's magic calmed down. He was now wondering who was interrupting him so he obeyed the voice out of curiosity.

Standing on a nearby platform with his arms crossed was Romeo with a serious look on his face.

On the other hand, Velveno's cigar almost fell out of his mouth.

"A kid really? Oh man this is just pathetic." He ran his comb through his afro in agitated disappointment. "I was hoping for a real mage not some kid who escaped from his daycare." Romeo's eye twitched at that but let it slide.

"I'm done for the night now. Where is that damn ring?" Velveno didn't care anymore and turned around to look for the ring. Romeo couldn't believe it! His first big job and the guy couldn't care less!

"Do I not look threatening at all? Natsu-nii just shows up and has bad guys shaking but when I do it he just walks away!" Romeo sighed before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the ring. "Is this what you are looking for?"

Velveno turned around and noticed that his ring was in that kid's hand.

But so did the rest of the people at the party.

"Look at that! The boy has the ring!" Quiet murmurs went through the small crowd off to the side of the dance hall. "My gods, does that mean he'll be engaged to the count's daughter?" More eyes landed on Romeo as the talking grew louder. The crowd started to get back to normal and their voices started to fill the room.

"That ring isn't yours so give it here kid before you get hurt." Romeo didn't respond to Velveno's threat. While his body was locked into place like a statue, his eyes were darting around the room and making eye contact with everyone who was staring at him.

They were staring at him so much.

Too much.

" _Stop."_

" _Please."_

lub-dub

lub-dub

lub-dub.

" _I didn't think this all the way through."_

Romeo gripped his chest as he felt his heart beating loudly in his chest. His arms and legs were starting to feel cold as it felt like all of blood was rushing out of his limbs and into his heart. Each pump felt so hard and slow. Sweat was starting to show on his skin and his vision was slowly closing.

"Hahaha! What's the matter? Got stage fright little boy?" Velveno and the others were seeing Romeo having a panic attack from all the attention on him. He was starting to visibly shake a little and he looked like he was going to pass out from the stress.

The ring in his hand fell suddenly and everyone watched as Romeo was lost in his own world. "I better pick it up…" His own voice in his mind sounded foreign to him as he bent down to pick it up. His hand was shaking as he reached down for it and his tunnel vision was worsening because all he could see was the ring.

Just as his hand was about to grabbed the ring a new gloved hand gently covered his.

"Relax my little firefly."

His eyes shot open and his vision cleared up to see nothing but a memory of the past.

**Flashback (Cause why the fuck not?)**

**_Three months ago_ **

_The guild hall was semi-empty today with Jet, Droy, Warren, Nab, Vijeeter, and Max all out on jobs, while Alzack, Bisca, and Asuka were away visiting Bisca's parents for the week. Jura was visiting the guild to talk with Macao about the upcoming guild masters meeting where he would be representing Lamia Scale while Master Ooba was in Sin. Along for the visit were Lyon, Chelia, and Sherry._

_Romeo and Chelia were sitting next to one another watching the news on the guild media lacrima that Fairy Tail bought the month before after they save up some money to do so._

_"And there you have it folks! Another spectacular concert performance by the rising pop star sensation Chelia Blendy! A sold-out crowd of over seventy thousand fans were present to see the teenage idol perform, along with over a dozen major celebrities in attendance as well! And let's not forget that representatives from at least forty Chelia Blendy's fan clubs were also in attendance", the local news anchor said as it showed footage from Chelia's concert last night in Malba City. As it shifted to politics, Romeo turns toward Chelia, who still looked tired from her performance the night before._

_"You know you didn't have to come today, right?" Romeo said, "You don't have to come see me every time you have downtime. I could come see you if you want."_

_"Yeah, but then we wouldn't be able to do the things we normally do. You know, with all the Lamia Scale members who don't know about us watching our every move and being nosy", Chelia replied while stifling a yawn, "I enjoy the peace and quiet of our nature dates anyway."_

_Romeo was grateful that at this point Chelia has never once complained about them not being public with their dating. He always thought that their relationship would have ended within a month or sooner seeing how his nervousness around large groups of people prevented them from going on dates out in town._

_It's just that he gets extremely worrisome around crowds. He can take on a Vulcan or two no problem, but if you have even ten people he's not familiar with, stare at him, he starts to have a panic attack. The worst one had been at Totomaru-sensei's school years ago when he had to demonstrate a spell in front of the class. Everyone was focusing on him, and he soon started hyperventilating and felt like he was having a heart attack. He collapsed a few moments later. The hospital, his father, and even Porlyusica had to be called in._

_While normally the potion-mage wanted nothing to do with people, when Jet (who was sent to go get her, of course) told her about what happen she immediately set off for the guild hall where Romeo was resting, (turns out she has a soft spot for children). There she gave him a potion that could ease his anxiety, but not make it go away. She simply told him and his father that it something that he has to get over himself. The potion helped him get through the rest of school, but after he graduated early she stopped making it for him._

_It only made Chelia look even more amazing because Romeo has always wondering how she could stand in front of thousands upon thousands of people, let alone sing in front of them. He would never admit it to anyone, not even Chelia herself, but he has watched every one of her concerts on the media lacrima since they started dating, even some beforehand when they were in that awkward phase around one another._

_Romeo noticed that even when she wasn't onstage she was the complete opposite of him. Where he was timid and quiet in front of crowds, whenever he had to be in a crowd, she was confident and loud. Where he would try to be invisible in public, she would make herself the center of attention. The only time he could match her personality was when they were in their respective guild halls or by themselves, away from wandering eyes._

_"Romeo? Romeo?" Chelia's voice snaps Romeo out of his thoughts._

_"Yeah, what is it?"_

_"You just been staring at me for the past five minutes", she says before smiling, "Not that I mind of course, I love it when your eyes are on me and me alone, but you were just zoning out."_

_Romeo rolls his eyes at Chelia flirtatious comment before speaking._

_"It's nothing really. I just always wonder how you can stand in front of thousands of people and not be intimated by all those eyes staring at you. All those people judging you", Romeo stated while getting a shiver down his spine just thinking about it, "I could never do that. I would faint within seconds."_

_Chelia smiles at her boyfriend's antics even though she knows he's being serious. That was one the many things she loved about him. He wasn't afraid to admit his faults and he didn't let his pride get in the way most of the time. He had no problem telling people he was afraid to be around large gatherings of people. He also had no problem admitting that someone stronger than him when it came to magic._

_Right before their first sparring match, which came about when words alone could no longer control the anger they had for one another, he openly admitted that she was more than likely going to win, but he was going to make her work for it._

_And boy did he make her work for that victory._

_By the time Jura called an end to the match, half of the forest around the Fairy Tail guild hall was either burnt or blown away, Romeo was lying unconscious on the ground and Chelia was barely standing, having to lean on a nearby tree stump to keep herself up. Romeo's prowess in combat and talent in fire constructs was only beaten through Chelia's larger magic pool and healing ability. In fact, he impressed Jura so much that he volunteered to train the boy to help him get better; a fact that at first Chelia was frustration about, but over time came to appreciate._

_"Actually when I first started out, I was pretty nervous about being in front of so many people. But right before my first major gig, Sherry suggested I speak to Jura about it", Chelia admitted._

_"Why Jura?" Romeo asked_

_"Well, when I talked to him he said that because he was Saint Wizard, he was expected to speak in front of large crowds, sometimes just because he was famous and at other times on behalf of the Magic Council. He says his secret was that instead of fully focusing on the crowds you should direct most of your attention somewhere else, like something you enjoy doing", Chelia explained._

_"And what does Jura enjoy doing?" Romeo asked._

_Chelia looks across the hall to see Jura discussing guild matters with Macao before she leans in close to Romeo to whisper in his ear. As the boy tries to fight the blush growing on his face at her close proximity to him he hears her say…_

_"Most people think Jura is into bonsai cutting or rock sculpting, but that couldn't be farther from the truth", she whispers._

_"What does he love to do?"_

_Chelia's face takes a dark look as she answers._

_"You didn't hear it from me and I only know because I accidentally walked in on him doing it once."_

_"Doing what?"_

_…_

_…._

_….._

_"Staring at himself in the mirror while trying on wigs", Chelia told him and after a moment of silence she elaborated, "Mainly ones with long hair."_

_Romeo was about to laugh out loud when Chelia's hand suddenly covers his mouth._

_"If he ever finds out that you know about that and that I'm the one who told you, you will forever rue this day", she warned in a tone that suggested that she was being serious, "Do you understand me? I will not go through another serious training session with him again. My healing magic could barely keep up last time..."_

_Romeo slowly nods his head and Chelia removes her hand his mouth._

_"Okay then, what do you focus on?"_

_"Believe or not, it used to be my singing in general. I would just sing the song in my head and before I know it, I was done", Chelia told him, "If I was singing in front of a crowd I just focused on the song I was singing."_

_"Hmm, wonder what I could focus on?" Romeo thought aloud._

_"Well if you need a suggestion, you could always imagine me", Chelia giggled as she strikes a pose causing Romeo to throw her a look before going back to thinking._

_"Can't seem to think of anything", Romeo confessed._

_"How about fighting then?" Chelia suggested._

_"Say what?"_

_"Romeo, you may not have noticed but when you fight you become a completely different person. You're oozing so much confidence that even I'm taken aback by it and it's even more incredible when you know you're going to lose", Chelia explains to him._

_Romeo thinks about what she said and realizes that she may have a point. Whenever he sparred with someone, he feels completely at home, like he is one with himself._

_"Huh, maybe you may be on to something there. Maybe I should just focus on fighting. Thanks, Chelia."_

_"Awww, that's my little firefly!" Chelia gushes causing Romeo to take a deep breath in annoyance._

_"Chelia", he says._

_"Oh please! Let me hear you say it. Thank me properly!"_

_"Thank you…my Dark Sky Angel", Romeo mumbles, almost wishing he never thought of that nickname._

_"Awww, was that so bad?" Chelia teased._

_As Romeo reveled in his embarrassment, he suddenly had a thought._

_"Hey Chelia, you said that you used to focus on singing whenever you were in front of a crowd so do you still focus on something now?"_

_"Oh, I still do", Chelia admitted._

_"What is it now?" Romeo asked only to see Chelia smiled brightly as she plants a kiss on his cheek and pulls him in for a deep hug._

_"Why you of course silly, and how I can't wait to see you again_."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

**Romeo vs Velveno: Conclusion.**

The first sensation Romeo felt as he returned from his memory was the ring clenched in his hand. Slowly he opened his eyes and loosened his grip to see the ring.

" _That's right I have to protect this_ …" He looked up to see Velveno slowly walking towards him.

"… _from him_. _For her._ "

"Just hand it over kid clearly you should go back to the daycare you were left at. This is the big leagues and you and your guild are all out of innings." He charged at Romeo ready to jump up onto the dancing platform. Romeo silently put the ring back in his pocket before his eyes seemed to reignite, "Alright Romeo, just focus on the fight, nothing else."

"I'm just getting started. **Purple Flare**!" He thrusts out his hands and sent out his purple flame right at Velveno's feet. It connected to his right foot so he looked down to see the flame holding his leg in place.

"That's a cheap- where did he?" Velveno looked back up at the platform where Romeo was a second ago only to find nothing. He heard an odd crackling next to him so he turns to see Romeo right next to him with a yellow flaming fist chirping with lighting.

" _This kid knows teleportation magic_?!"

"Rainbow Fire: Yellow!" A lighting fire fist slammed into Velveno's cheek and sent him flying across the ballroom floor. Sparks ran through Velveno forcing him to grit his teeth until he felt the residual effects of the flame subside.

"That was a good shot let's keep going." He picked himself up and extended his arms into a familiar stance. The room's temperature dropped as Velveno's new magic grew. "Until I figure out your magic I'm going to keep you at a distance with Ice Magic."

Romeo said nothing but the electric flame in his right hand grew in response.

" **Ice-Make: Lance**!" Velveno extends his arms forward, creating long, curved ice lances that shot towards Romeo to attack him from range. But Romeo was having none of it as he charged towards the incoming attack and weaved through the lances to reach him.

Any that weren't dodged were shattered as his lighting flame destroyed the ice that was going to hit him. Quicker than Velveno thought Romeo was in front of him and he was shoved into the wall behind him with Romeo's left hand. This left him with no escape as Romeo's right fist was raised and poised to strike.

"That is it!" Velveno's right hand shot out and grabbed Romeo's left arm as Romeo's ignited right arm thrusts at his face. Romeo grits his teeth as an ominous feeling shot through him and his eyes wavered for a moment. The feeling grew and before he knew it Velveno had tilted his head away from the attack, leaving his electrified hand lodged in the wall.

" _W-What was that_?" Romeo ripped his hand out and leaps backwards away from him. "Hmm. I don't know what to make of this magic…" Velveno seemed confused as he looked down at his hand and nothing seemed to happen.

"What are you?" He looked back up at Romeo who channeled his remaining magic into his right fist. "That's a dumb question." Romeo leapt at him with his largest attack yet, releasing a large light and loud chirping as he closed in for a second attempt.

"Not good enough." Velveno held up one arm and the air around him changed to a high-velocity tornado that connected with Romeo. The change of magic caught him off guard and suddenly he found himself flying away from Velveno and into a food table across the room.

Romeo groaned as he pushed the away the rubble and ruined food. "I've only confirmed how quick he can change between magics but I still don't know why it's stronger than the original. The dragon slayer magic is rare, so I doubt he used it before…maybe I can use that against him." He grabbed a few of the knives from the silverware that was lying next to him as he thought about his next attack.

"Let's see him deal with this." After shoving the knives in his pocket he held his right arm back and soon it chirped again with his yellow rainbow flame. " **Inferno Construction: Lightning Hell Beast**!" The lighting flame expanded into a snarling hound and as soon as Romeo shot his arm forward the beast raced towards Velveno at an incredible pace.

 **"Ice Make: Hammer**!" Velveno created a large ice hammer that floated above his head before he dropped it on Romeo's attack. He thought he got it but as it swerved around the hammer he saw that the beast was connected to Romeo's hand by a long yellow flame meaning it was directly under his control.

"Shit! **Ice Make: Rampart**!" In a panic, Velveno slammed both of hands onto the ground and a giant wall of ice formed in front of him. The ice was too cloudy to see through it but he felt when the lighting beast crashed into the wall because the ice was crumbling under the attack.

Within seconds, the ice shattered and instead of the lightning beast Romeo emerged in the air poised for another close-up attack.

But this time, Velveno was prepared.

A smirk showed up on his face as he changed into Erza's heaven's wheel armor with numerous swords floating behind him. "Fooled ya! **Heaven's Wheel**!" The swords moved into action and Romeo's eyes went wide as he was stuck in the air and couldn't dodge. Velveno roared out as he drove the swords forward and watched as they pierced through his body with a demented grin on his face.

It was quickly wiped off his face when the surprised Romeo erupted into a blast of yellow flame and created a smoke screen that blinded him. He stumbled backwards and tried cleaning his eyes but he suddenly felt himself being shoved forward.

A quick fist in the chest greeted him which caused him hunch over in pain. A slash from a sharp object cut him across the chest before another sliced his back. "Gah!" Romeo sent a kick to the back of his head and ignited the knife in his hand to create a small fire dagger. He then struck Velveno again in the back with a flaming arc of fire that flew off the dagger.

" **Inferno Construct: Dagger**!"

"This kid is just teleporting around me and treating me like a goddamn punching bag!" Velveno was desperately trying to clear his vision but Romeo appeared in the air above him and sent another flaming arc directly on top of him. It sent him stumbling backwards and he rushed away in the opposite direction only to run into Romeo again who used his improvised fire blade to uppercut him the air with another flame arc.

"Stay down!" Romeo met him in the air and just as his vision cleared up Romeo slammed his foot into his gut, rocketing him back down to the ballroom floor. He looked up only to see Romeo wasn't done as he now had several knives in his hand. "This is payback for my guild! **Exploding Knives**!"

He lit up all the knives in his hand with indigo fire and let hell rain down on him. Velveno crossed his arms to protect himself but the pain was intense from the flaming knives riddling his body. As Romeo was falling back down to the ground he made a single hand sign.

"Ignite." An explosion blasted away the wood around Velveno as all of the knives engulfed in indigo flames erupted in sync. Romeo stood his ground as the debris and smoke from the blast rushed past him. His coal eyes sharpened as a figure slowly stood up in the smoke with his arms limp at his sides.

The smoke cleared to reveal Velveno's white suit almost completely destroyed, his body was covered in burns, and his arms were covered in shrapnel from the knives. Romeo pulled out his last knife and slowly a bright orange flame engulfed the blade to form a katana.

" **Inferno Construct: Sword**!"

"They say prison changes a man…" Slowly, Velveno brought both of his arms up and ice formed behind his forearms. "But I've always known what I was…" A new magic circle forms beneath him and the ice behind his forearms dramatically change in size and sharpness.

"A thief…my ability to steal another person's magic made me different from everyone else. But my second magic allows me to increase the power of the stolen technique to overpower the original user." His eyes flickered up and Romeo could see the changed look in his eyes, causing him to grip his flame sword tighter

"Prison never changed me but you… you will turn me from a thief…

...To a murderer! **FINAL ICE BLADE: SEVEN SLICE DANCE**!" Velveno exploded out from the rubble towards Romeo and quickly spun his body to become a rotating top of death. Romeo took a wide stance and tried to figure out how to counter it but he knew he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to.

"You aren't going to become a murderer today." Velveno didn't stop his advance but Romeo dropped his sword and reached into his pocket.

"YOU WON'T STOP ME!" The first strike was about to land when Romeo thrusted his bare fist towards the enhanced ice blade.

"You were going to be a husband tonight isn't that right?" A blade stopped just short of slicing through Romeo's right hand and the other just short of cutting Romeo's stomach. Velveno's eyes were shadowed under his hair and he said nothing as he seemed to be frozen in this very dangerous position.

The Ice Blade was less than an inch away from the ring that he had been after for so long.

The one that was now on Romeo's ring finger.

Slowly the ice behind his forearms shrunk down until they were gone and then he stood up straight.

"I almost forgot why I was here in the first place." Romeo relaxed for a moment when he said that. "Yeah I figured that it was why you were here in the first place." He rubbed the back of his head and laughed a little at the simple reason.

"So why don't we- GAH!" An ice sword stabbed him through the stomach and out the back as Velveno had an insane look in his eyes. "Never trust anyone especially the guy you just beat."

"The tradition is that whoever wears the ring will marry Aceto but there can't be a marriage if the groom dies beforehand." Romeo's eyes were wide as he collapsed onto the floor. Velveno bent down and pulled the ring off his hand before putting it on himself.

"I guess we were both wrong. I became a husband and a murderer today."

"It's fine…surprises are the spice of life…besides I think we're ready anyways." It took a while for the heavily breathing Romeo to spit all that out but the message was clear. "What do you mean?" Romeo laughed a little before his body fell apart into orange flames and Velveno rushed his hand to face to see the ring on his hand fall apart into the same flame.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Velveno roared out and found nothing until he sensed a large spike of magic from the far side of the ballroom where all the levitating platforms were. Slowly the platforms moved and he saw Romeo hanging upside down using his Purple Flare Orbs to stay hidden with the ring on his hand.

"I hope you learned a lot from my clones because I definitely learned a lot from them." Romeo released himself from his Purple Flare Orbs and landed on his feet, ignoring the pain from the fall that normally would have hurt him.

Or would have if he wasn't in his Fire Dragon Slayer mode.

His eyes opened to reveal slit eyes and the scales around them moved when he raised his eyebrow at the state Velveno was in. "Geez I knew it was bad but you should really take better care of yourself. Hey Wendy what do you think of his condition?"

"Well it is going to take a lot of healing magic to fix him up but I'm a little tired now." Wendy walked out of a side room and stood beside Romeo. She mocked yawned before smiling a little. "You must be too after doing all that work. Right Erza?"

"I'm impressed Romeo you really thought this out. I was worried that when you suddenly showed up. That was until you told us your plan thru Warren." Erza patted him on the shoulder but it was so strong he fell on his face.

"I can't even look cool after my first real fight on a mission." He murmured to the floor as the rest of the Fairy Tail guild showed up behind him looking fine. "*cough* Well you see Velveno after we had our chat I had my clone "distract" you while I went back into hiding. From there all I told Warren to do was to tell my guild mates that I would buy time until they could rejoin the fight and try to figure out a new attack plan."

"B-But what about the all the teleporting and knives?!"

Romeo sighed and murmured to himself that he wasn't some super-villain and that he shouldn't have to explain everything. "I don't know how to teleport. It was just clones again, but this time one was made of Indigo and the other just a normal Orange. You were too disoriented to tell the difference and once the knives detonated the Indigo clone dismissed itself. My plan the entire time was to distract you so Wendy could heal everyone without you interfering."

"*S _igh*, maintaining those clones was such a pain in the neck while going into Fire Dragon Slayer mode though_ ", Romeo thought before talking to Velveno again.

"Look I'm not all bad Velveno so I will tell you this." Romeo took a few steps forward and stopped a fair distance away. The Sky Dragon Slayer magic you drained from my guild mate has the ability to heal so hurry up and heal yourself so we can go all out. Come on." He sounded almost non-enthusiastic but Velveno was excited.

"You know what kid you're still an idiot!" He took a wide stance and turned his remaining magic into Sky Dragon Slayer magic but even after wasting more and more magic his injuries were not going away. "Why isn't this working?!"

"What did you say before? 'Never trust anyone especially the guy you just beat.' You know what? That's really good advice." Romeo widened his stance and reared his head back. " **Fire Dragon's Roar**!" He lunged forward and opened his jaw wide for his now improved roar. The training with Natsu had been really working as the roar felt more natural.

"I'll just match you! **Fire Dragon's Roar**!" Velveno immediately switched to the Fire Dragon Slayer magic he stole from Natsu. The roars collided but it was clear that Romeo's was slowly overpowering Velveno's but both knew that would change soon thanks to his Magic Boost

" _Warren_ _now would be a good time to, oh hey Wendy. You're sure you're still up for this I can get Natsu o_ -." Wendy stood next to him and took a deep breath for immediate energy. "I'm fine. Besides Fire and Wind is a great combination, right?" Romeo's eyes were filled mirth at that.

" _That's what Chelia keeps telling me_."

Romeo's eyes narrowed as his roar was now being pushed back quickly.

The time limit had expired.

" _Now my Magic Boost will overpower him and I will finally be with my Aceto! What the hell_?!"

" **Sky Dragon's Roar**!" Wendy lunged forward with her roar and her bluish white wind mixed with Romeo's orange reddish fire to form a combined swirling inferno roar several times stronger than normal.

" **UNISON RAID: SKY FIRE ROAR**!" Wendy and Romeo planted their right foot forward and thrusted their chests out as if they were dragons while Velveno swore that in the last moments before his roar was crushed that there were two dragons behind the young mages.

The combination of wind and fire caused an explosion that sends Velveno flying into the wall, embedded him into it but Velveno refuse to stay down.

"Wow, this guy still moving. He's pretty determined to marry this girl" Wendy points out as Velveno was struggling to pull himself out.

"Then I guess one more attack is necessary!" Romeo states as he brings his fist up.

"Oh crap, almost forgot", he states as he takes the ring off and throws it toward the Count who fumble it around in his hand before catching it.

"Can't let that get damage now, can I?" Romeo says as he turns back to Velveno.

"This is your last warning! Stop what you're doing and come along peacefully!" Romeo warns him.

"Go to hell", was Velveno only reply as he switches to his Purgatory Armor and brandish his mace.

"Have it your way", as Romeo looks at Wendy, "Going to need your help on this one, okay?"

Wendy nods as she begins to gather winds around her hand while Romeo engulfs his in flames.

As Erza and Natsu looked on, the Requip mage can't help but feel a sense of pride swell up within her.

" _This is the next generation of Fairy Tail in action. This time, I shall do nothing but watch from the side and let Romeo complete his first real mission as a Fairy_."

Both Romeo and Wendy rushes toward Velveno with the flames in Romeo's right hand combining with the winds in Wendy's left hand:

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist**!"

" **Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang**!"

Velveno brings his mace down right on top of their combine attack.

"I WON'T BE STOP BY A BUNCH OF BRATS!"

" **UNISON RAID: HEAVEN'S BLAZING STRIKE**!", as once again the combined power of fire and wind become too much for the infamous thief as Romeo and Wendy fists easily shatters through Velveno mace and continues upward into his chest plate. The next thing anyone hears or sees is the wall crumbling under the might of the second explosion as all three of them going sailing thru it to the outside of the castle and into the gardens. Romeo and Wendy land gracefully on the ground while Velveno plummets into it, leaving a crater in his wake.

Both of the teenagers are breathing heavily at this point but know not to let their guard down. As they cautiously approach the impact zone of Velveno, their hearing catches a strange noise….

Laughter. Strain laughter, but laughter none the less.

As they looked down they see that Velveno was indeed laughing even after his armor had been dispel.

"You have to tell me how you did it kid! How did I lose to you?" he asked as he shifted his eyes to Romeo.

"It was a number of things actually. First off, I had the element of surprise on my side. You didn't know I was on the roof. Second, I use Warren and his telepathic magic to tell everyone else my plan while my clones kept you busy. Third, just from witnessing how you switch between magics, I knew you probably had more magic energy than anyone else here, including Erza. So I had to come up with a plan to make you waste it before I could really try anything. Then I remember that you copy Wendy's magic", Romeo explained.

"Yes… I did right before I made my attempt on the ring", Velveno coughed out.

"But seeing how Sky Dragon-Slayer magic is rare, I took a chance that you didn't know much about it so I decided to use that against you. It's a rarely known fact that Wendy can heal other people. It's even a rarer known fact that she can't heal herself."

"So you bluffed your way into tricking me so that I would waste my magic on healing myself so you would have the advantage", Velveno concluded.

"Exactly", Wendy suddenly spoke up, "And seeing how brightly you were glowing, you must have been using a lot of it."

"After that all it took was for me and Wendy to use our combine roar attack to finish you. The explosion caused by wind and fire joining together should have been enough but you're a tough bastard. You withstood that and were evening trying to keep fighting. So I quickly figure that a second more close up and personal attack was needed", Romeo continued on.

"But my Purgatory Armor should have been able to withstand that strike", Velveno pointed out.

"While yes, Purgatory Armor is Erza's strongest armor and should have been able withstood both of those attacks…in theory, and that if you were in peak condition. But with the power behind our attack, the explosion that came along with it, and the weakened state you were already in, there was really no way you were going to be able to withstand it. But if by some miracle you did and you were still itching for another fight…." Romeo trailed off as he points his thumb behind him toward the hole in the wall that he and Wendy made. Standing there menacingly was Erza with sword in hand, Natsu with both fist ablaze and fire coming out his mouth, Elfman with his beast arm ready, Warren with his fingers on his temples and Lucy with a couple of keys in each hand.

"Those guys were up for another round", Romeo said as fire starts to erupt from him while Wendy started to summoned the wind to spin around her, "And of course Wendy and myself still were too."

"You have quiet the brain on you kid," Velveno said.

"I lacked the raw magic reserve that Natsu-nii and the others have that lets them go all out for long periods of time. So I have to use my mind to make up for it", Romeo says proudly, "Though if we're going to be honest, most of the power from our attacks came from Wendy seeing how she the more powerful Dragon-slayer."

Wendy couldn't help but smile at the compliment.

"You're some sort of tactical genius, aren't you?" Velveno asked as he starts to cough from the pain, "Tell me, what your name kid?"

"I'm Romeo Conbolt of Fairy Tail, son of its Fourth Guild Master", Romeo says while puffing out his chest a little.

"Romeo, huh? I can already tell that you're going to go far kid. The first thing I'm going to do after I get out of jail is ask for Aceto's hand in marriage, and then I'm coming to you for a rematch." His eyes start to close as his body shuts down. "Hey…kid...tell me why I couldn't copy your magic." Velveno says quietly before he finally passes out from the pain.

"Can't wait for that rematch", Romeo calmly says as he falls on the ground to sit down. As his eyes transform back to normal and the scales around his eyes fade away, he looks up at the sky wondering about the last question.

"Though even I can't tell you why you couldn't copy my magic."

**A little while later**

"This is taking too long; I really need to go!" Romeo complained as the authorities have arrived to take Velveno to prison. Aceto was standing over by the man, talking to him as the Rune Knights began to take him away.

"Romeo, I'm fully aware that you need to leave but we must wait for the Count to finish his talk with the Rune Knights so we can receive our payment", Erza tells him

"But Chelia's concert is about to start soon!"

"I know that, but the rules are in order to receive your share of the reward you have to be present when it is given unless you're injured.", Erza calmly states knowing full well that if this was Natsu complaining she would simply hit him. But seeing how Romeo had impressed her today she decided to be a little lenient with him.

"Look here he comes now" Lucy says as Count Balsamico was walking over to them with a butler in tow who was carrying a sack full of jewels.

"Ah, I see that everyone is present. Tell me, how is your ice friend doing?" The Count asked.

"He is recovering thanks to Wendy healing and your own medical staff, your lordship", Erza tells him.

"Good to hear. Now then onto your payment", as he snaps his fingers the butler presented them with the money, "There you have it, one million jewels."

Erza was about to accept the bag when she suddenly stops and looked at the nobleman.

"Pardon me, Lord Balsamico, but we were under the impression that the bounty for Velveno was four million jewels."

"It is. Or at least it was until you put that giant hole in my castle", the Count points at said hole, "Repairing that isn't cheap, you know."

"But it was necessary to stop Velveno!" Romeo started to argue before Erza stops him.

"We thank you for the payment and we apologize for the damages, Count Balsamico", Erza bows, "We'll depart as soon as Gray is fit to move."

"Very well then, I bid you good day", the count tells them as he takes one more good look at Romeo then turns around and marches away.

After he gets a good distance from them, his butler bends down and whispers….

"But your lordship, you forgot to discuss with the boy the matter of…."

"That is for another time. I must see the king about this issue", Count Balsamico says as he enters his castle.

Meanwhile back at the group, Romeo is distraught right now after getting his share of the money.

" _One hundred and twenty-five thousand jewels?! How in the world am I going to afford Chelia's necklace now_?" as small tears started to form in his eyes, " _The one time I try to do something nice for her and this happen! How can I face her now?_!"

He was so deep in the middle of his mental breakdown that he didn't notice Elfman coming up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Romeo", the big man says, "You seem worried about something."

"I was planning on using my share of the reward to get Chelia a necklace I saw at the jewelry store for all of the hard work she been putting into the concert", Romeo tells Elfman as he wipes away a few tears, not caring that he is openly admitted that he was being a thoughtful boyfriend for once, "It the least I can do after all she done for me. But now I don't have the money to afford it."

Elfman could only look on in shock along with the rest of Team Natsu and Warren as they try to comprehend what they just heard, except for Wendy of course who already knew. Then after a moment of silence something truly... Manly happened.

Elfman started to cry along with Lucy while Erza simply looked prideful for some reason.

"Romeo! That has got to be the manliest thing I ever heard!" Elfman cried out as a fountain of tears came pouring out of his eyes.

"Oh Romeo, to be so considerate of a girl's feelings!" Lucy sobbed as she sniffed and try to wipe the tears from her eyes, "Why can't more guys be like you?" as she took a peek toward Natsu.

"Indeed, you have truly become a man of great honor!" Erza added as she nodded her head in approval, "It seem I was wrong in assuming that you would turn out like your father, or like everyone else thought, homosexual, now that there would have been anything wrong with it if you were."

Elfman then places the bag with his share of the reward in front of the shock boy and bows his head deeply to him, all while still crying. "I know I'll come to regret this later, but Romeo: You take my share of the money, you go buy Chelia that necklace, and you give it to her dammit! Be the manliest man that you can be!"

Romeo didn't know how to response at the moment as his brain was still trying to process everything that just happen.

"And take mine as well!" Erza suddenly said placing her bag next to Elfman.

"And mine too!" Lucy adds as she does the same, shocking everyone.

"Lucy! Don't you have to make rent?" Natsu and Happy asked.

"Rent isn't due for another two weeks. So we'll just take another job! Right now, this is more important!" Lucy waves them off as she grabs Romeo's hands, "Romeo, you go show Chelia that she's a lucky girl to have a guy like you!"

"Th-Thank you everyone! But the only problem left is that the fight took more out of me than I thought and I don't have the strength to make it to Magnolia in time."

Erza and Lucy both turn to look at Natsu with an evil glint in their eyes that cause the Fire Dragon-Slayer to have re- flashes of what happen to him earlier this week after he fought Romeo. As he tries to run away, Erza grabs him by the back of his neck and brings him face to face with her and Lucy.

"Natsu! Give Romeo some fire so he has the energy to get back to Magnolia, right now!" Lucy ordered as Erza pull her blade up to his throat to make sure there was no argument.

"A-Aye" Natsu croaks out.

A while later after Romeo has went back into Dragon-Slayer mode and eaten his fill of Natsu's flames he conjures up a phoenix with his fire magic.

As he jumps on it, he yells back toward the rest of the gang.

"Thanks for everything, you guys. I'll make it up to you, I promise!", as he takes off into the skies.

" _Mira and Lisanna are going to kill me for this, but I don't care. I'll die like a man_!" Elfman thinks as he waves at Romeo.

Wendy can only look on in silence as she remembers everything that has happened tonight.

"Wendy? Wendy?", Carla waved her hand in front of the girl, snapping the girl out of her thoughts.

"Sorry about that. What is it, Carla?"

"Nothing really, just that I'm surprise that you didn't give Romeo your share of the reward as well. I'm glad you didn't, you work hard for that reward. But I was expecting you of all people to try something like that", the white exceed told her charge.

Wendy looks down at her hands and sees that she was still indeed holding her share of the reward.

" _Huh, that's strange. Why didn't I offer him my share of the reward? I would have done it had it been Lucy, Natsu, or any of the others, so why not Romeo?"_ She thought as she looked back toward Romeo's retreating figure in the night sky.

" _Romeo has certainly grown over the years though, he's no longer that same little boy."_

But while Wendy was focusing on watching Romeo faded into the distance, Erza, Warren, and Natsu, were having a serious conversation off to the side.

"So that the reason why Master Makarov allowed so many of us to come along on this job", Erza said.

"I'm sorry Erza, I should have told you this beforehand", Warren apologizes.

"No, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that Velveno would have been that strong", Erza assures him.

"Dammit! Can't believe the one man didn't trust us to handle this job!", Natsu raged.

"We didn't exactly give him a reason to trust us tonight, now did we Natsu? Gray was severe injure, while you, Elfman, and Lucy were incapacitated. Even I was barely able to stand after taking Velveno on, and Wendy was too busy trying to heal everyone up to do anything.", Erza told the dragon-slayer, "As much as it pains me to say it, Velveno handled all of us as if you were mere children. If anything all we did here tonight was confirm the master fears."

This did not smooth Natsu's anger one bit as he punches a nearby tree and left a fist-size dent in the wood.

"The truth is we just got left behind while on Tenrou as the rest of the world moved on", Erza stated for a determine look appears on her face, "All we need to do start catching back up."

As Romeo races through the clouds on the back of his Inferno Construct phoenix, he was still reeling over what just happen.

"Wow. Those guys really are my family." Romeo says aloud, "I can't believe they were willing to give up their reward money so I could- Wait a minute", as he looks back toward the direction of the castle "What did Erza say? Everyone thought I was what?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

**The Concert Pt.1**

As Romeo arrived in Magnolia an hour and a half later, he dispels his construct and decided to go on foot to the jewelry store in an effort to save magic for the trip to Haragon.

" _Man, that bird construct really took it out of me despite Natsu-nii giving me some fire. Hope I have enough magic to make it to Haragon."_

"Okay, the store doesn't close for another five minutes so if I hurry I can make it-", as he collided with someone.

" _I sure pay more attention to my surroundings",_ Romeo says as he recovers from the fall, "Sorry about that. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", the person said and the voice cause Romeo to freeze in place, " _Oh crap, why here? Why now?"_

Romeo stands straight up and comes face to face with the golden eyes of his old childhood friend and next door neighbor, Lindsay Mine, daughter of Wakaba and Milligana Mine and if looks could kill Romeo would be six feet under right now.

"Oh look, it's the crybaby", she sneered.

Romeo was about to argue when he remembers he was about to cry not too long ago when he thought he couldn't buy Chelia the necklace, so he decided against it.

"Well hello to you too, Lindsay. How are you doing this fine night?" Romeo asked while trying to smile.

"Terrible, thanks to Fairy Tail", she complained, never once softening her glare, "Thanks to your guild mates coming and trashing Twilight Ogre guild hall, I have to take a boatload of jobs to help pay for the damages along with everyone else and the fact that over half our guild is out with injuries."

"Well that wouldn't have happened if they didn't come and trash our guild hall over the years", Romeo joked, "But you know what they say: What goes around comes around."

"Don't get smart with me, Conbolt!" Lindsay snarled.

"Oh, so we're on a last name basic now, are we? You think after all the years we been neighbors we could at least address one another by our first names like we use to." Romeo stated, "Guess your loyalty to Twilight Ogre means more to you than our past together."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" Lindsay growls as she summons a grey magic circle.

"I would advise you put the magic circle away, Lindsay." Romeo tells her in a serious tone, "You remember what happen last time you try that against me, don't you?"

Lindsay's face reddens in anger as she remembers the first and only time she ever challenged Romeo to a sparring match after she try to prove that he was a weakling cause he was in a pathetic guild like Fairy Tail. She found out later that her father asked Romeo to go easy on her and that was the only reason why her defeat wasn't anymore humiliating. Luckily they kept it a secret from the other members of Twilight Ogre and told them that she was injury while doing chores at home. That earn her endless taunting from the rest of the guild, but it was better than telling them that she lost to Fairy Tail.

"Whatever.", she scoffed as she walked past him, "At least I can go out in public and not have a heart attack. It's a shame really; you'll never get a girlfriend as long as you're like that."

Romeo watches her walked down the street until she disappears from sight, all the while thinking….

" _It never ceases to amaze me how Wakaba and Mrs. Mine can keep my relationship with Chelia a secret from their own daughter",_ Romeo thought as he takes off again toward the market square, money bag in hand, _"I'll have to worry about that later. Good thing she fell for my bluff though. I really don't have the time or magic to waste on her tonight."_

As Romeo came to the market square he saw that the shops were all beginning to close so he hightail it to the jewelry store only to be met by a closed sign. As he looked at the clock inside of the store he saw that he just missed the store closing by a mere two minute. Basically meaning if he had just ran pass Lindsay instead of stopping to argue with her he would have made it in time.

"Are you kidding me?!" He screams to the heaven, "I came all this way for nothing?!"

"Is there a reason why you're yelling in front of my store, Romeo?" A voice from the right side of him says as Romeo turns to see a woman who looked to be in her sixty with short faded blue hair and green eyes staring at him with an amused grin on her face.

"Mrs.…. Eyrie?" Romeo says as he remembers his neighbor whose house was on the other side of the canal from his, "What are you doing here?"

"You never were any good at paying attention when you were younger, were you?" Mrs. Eyrie says as steps out of the doorway, "My husband and I have own this store for years, even back when your dad was a kid."

A light bulb goes off above Romeo's head as he remembers his father mentioning that to him some time ago. Mrs. Eyrie waves the boy into her store and Romeo immediately starts looking for his prize.

"I bet you're here for The Shimmering Star I saw you eying the other day? It's for that Chelia girl, correct?" Mrs... . Eyrie asked.

"Yes! Do you still have-", Romeo stops as his brain catches up with what Mrs. Eyrie just said and his face dawns a look of horror as he turns around to stare at her with wide eyes, "H-H-How did you know about that?"

Mrs. Eyrie's grin broadened as she looks down at Romeo, "You didn't really think that you guys were the only ones that like to take walks through the forest now did you? Jacob and I have been doing it for decades. We spotted you two a little over a month ago just relaxing by the lake. Word of advice: you should probably go deeper into the forest to avoid being seen."

Romeo lowers his head and his mind tries to comprehend everything that was going on.

"You-You haven't told anyone yet have you?"

"No, and we're not going to. Your business is your business. It's not ours", Mrs. Eyrie proclaimed as she went behind the display glass, "Now are you going to buy this necklace or what?"

A wave of relief washes over Romeo after Mrs. Eyrie said those words as he walks over and pays for the necklace.

"Half a million?" Mrs. Eyrie says as she counts the money, "The necklace only cost four hundred thousand. If you want, I can engrave it for you for an extra fifty thousand, and that's the discount price."

"Fifty thousand?!"

"The full price is a hundred, Romeo. Take it or leave it", Mrs. Eyrie tells him.

Romeo was about to say forget it when he remembered the words of Master Makarov from the other day.

" _The ladies love it when you get them jewelry with their name or whatever engraved into i_ t", ring in his head as he starts to have second thoughts about it.

"Okay, maybe some engraving", Romeo said.

"Alright, what do you want on there?" Mrs. Eyrie asked.

Romeo rubs his chin as he tries to think of something…

"Hmm, can't come up with anything."

"How about that Dark Sky Angel gimmick?" Mrs. Eyrie suggested.

"Were you eavesdropping on our dates as well?!" Romeo screams out.

"It was just that one time", Mrs. Eyrie admits before smiling, "Little firefly."

"ARRRRGGGGHHH!"

"Calm down son. Jacob and I actually find it really cute the way ya give each other nicknames. Remind us of when we were young", Mrs. Eyrie sighs happily as she reminisced, "I remember when we use to be that young. We were next door neighbors who grew up together. Eventually our feelings started to change and before I knew it Jacob asked me out on our very first date at the age of twelve. Of course we heard all the talk; we're too young, it's only a fade, it will pass. But now here we are, married with three kids, seven grandchildren, and going on forty years of marriage."

She noticed that Romeo has gone quiet all of a sudden and when she glances in his direction, notice that his eyes were darken and that he had a sullen look on his face.

"What wrong?" Mrs. Eyrie asked.

"I overheard my father and Wakaba talking about a month ago as I was coming back from one of my forest walks….", he started to say after a moment of silence…

**Flashback (Best get uses to them, because this is going to happen a lot)**

" _Oh man I needed that walk to clear my head", Romeo tells himself as he comes out of the woods and behind the guild hall. As he passes one of the windows on his way to the front door, he overhears something._

" _You don't think it can go on much longer, do you Macao?" he hears Wakaba say, "They've been going out for almost half a year now."_

" _I'll admit; I was surprised that it lasted this long. I assumed they would have broken up somewhere around the three or four-month period, maybe even a little sooner. Kids don't take relationships seriously nowadays. All they want to do is just kiss and tell." He heard his own father say, "They're probably just looking for a way to let the other one down easy."_

" _Wow, really?" Romeo thought._

" _I mean even Chelia admitted that Romeo is her first boyfriend and you and I both know Romeo never had a girlfriend before. The closet thing he had to that was Lindsay and they were just friends and let's not forget that crush he had on Wendy."_

" _It's bound to happen eventually. Until then I will support this relationship and be there for him when the inevitable happens. This is both of them first relationship, it wasn't meant to last, it's just something to help make it easier in their future relationships", Macao explains as he gets up and heads to the bar with Wakaba following behind him and leaving a depress Romeo outside the window._

**_Present_ **

"I see", Mrs. Eyrie says as she rubs her temple in aggravation, "While I find it ironic that's it your dad and Wakaba having this conversation, seeing how one is divorced and the other marriage has been having issues lately, I can see where they are coming from. Kids these days' relationships don't last too long. Heck, even a month is something to celebrate, and yet you gone half a year with this Chelia girl."

"You're not exactly helping my self-esteem here, you know?" Romeo grunts.

"If you want someone to boost your self-esteem and sugarcoat everything for you go talk to your friends at Fairy Tail. Talking to me will get you the cold hard truth and nothing else", Mrs. Eyrie tells him as she goes to work on the engraving for the necklace, "Oh and by the way I'm putting Dark Sky Angel on the necklace. I hope there isn't a problem with that."

"No problem here, now back to my problem", Romeo said.

"There isn't a problem as long as you love her and she loves you. It's as simple as that. Let other people have their options cause that all they are, options", Mrs. Eyrie explains to the boy, "Just because people think something is going to happen doesn't mean it will."

"But-", Romeo started to speak.

"You do love her, right?" Mrs. Eyrie asks without turning around.

The question stuns Romeo for a moment.

"Y-Yes?" he stutters out.

"And she loves you, correct?"

"More than you know." Romeo chuckled.

"Don't be so sure of that. From the way she loved up on you, I swear rainbows and unicorns were about to spring forth" Mrs. Eyrie states.

"You know, some people would consider what you guys did as stalking", Romeo muttered.

"Remember Romeo, me and Jacob were walking through the forest before your father was even born."

The two of them made small talk for a couple more minutes while Mrs. Eyrie finished the engraving.

Eventually she holds up the necklace, "It's done."

Romeo examines the necklace and was amazed by the fact that Mrs. Eyrie spell out the letter to DARK on the blue diamonds on one side while the word SKY was spell out on the center pink diamond while the word ANGEL was on the other side of blue diamonds.

"She'll love this", Romeo tells Mrs. Eyrie.

"For almost half a million jewels, I certainly hope so. Now if I recall from what I saw on the lacrima news, she's in Haragon right now doing a concert. That's a long walk if you want to be there in time to give it to her", Mrs. Eyrie states.

"I'll fly there", Romeo simply told her.

"You can create bigger birds then the ones you made to fly around Chelia?" Mrs. Eyrie asks causing Romeo to groan in annoyance.

"Now every time I go walking thru the woods I'm going be constantly looking around for spying eyes!" Romeo moans.

"Yeah kid, whatever. Here you go, you better get going if you want to make it there in time", Mrs. Eyrie tells him as he hands him the necklace.

"Thanks!", Romeo says as he takes off outside and began to form the phoenix construct once more only to find that he was straining just to create it let alone maintain it.

"Oh gods damn it! The flight here took more out of me than I thought!" Romeo screamed.

"Before you throw a tantrum in front of my store again, drink this", Mrs. Eyrie tells him as she holds a vial out in front of him.

"What's this?" he wonders as he takes the vial out of her hand.

"A potion that will replenish your magic energy", Mrs. Eyrie explained.

"Why does a non-magic using jeweler have something as rare as this?"

"We accept payments of all types here", she said casually as if she was commented the weather, "So are you going to drink it or not?"

Without hesitation, Romeo takes the cork off and down the liquid. It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth but within moments he feels his magic surge alive in ways that Natsu's fire never could do.

"Holy crap this is amazing!" he rejoiced.

"Wouldn't know the feeling, now don't you have somewhere to be?" Mrs. Eyrie asked.

"Right!" Romeo agreed as he once again construct a phoenix and hope on.

"How can I repay you, Mrs. Eyrie?" he shouted just before he took off.

"Promise me two things: One, you won't grow up to be like your father. The town doesn't need another Conbolt pervert running around. Two, tell your fellow guild member Max that his engagement ring for Laki is ready!"

Romeo blushed for a brief moment at the first comment before reeling from the second.

"Max has been dating Laki?!"

"You didn't know? The boy been coming to my store for months now looking for the perfect engagement ring", Mrs. Eyrie tells him, "Now you better get going!"

Romeo waves goodbye and takes off into the sky toward Haragon leaving Mrs. Eyrie standing there while shaking her head…

"Good thing I didn't tell him about the bet me and Jacob had about how he thought he would turn out gay", she murmured to herself as she remembers how Jacob had to fix all the broken things around the house after he lost to her.

**Outside Haragon**

"Great performance Chelia dear, the fan loved it!" one of the director told her as she just gets off stage after performing.

"Thank you. Can I get some water, please?" she asks as she wipes the sweat off her brow.

"Sure dear. Can we get some water over here?!" he yells out as a stage hand brings him a couple bottles and hands them to Chelia.

"Thank you", as she proceeds to quickly gulp one of the bottles down.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there!" the director tells her, "Now you go get some rest. Your duet with Arashi is coming up soon! It's your last performance of the night!"

" _Oh great, someone else I don't want to be around",_ Chelia thought as she walks to her trailer to get some much needed downtime.

Arashi Jyuda, sixteen years old, was the number one singer from the country of Iceberg to the east and the continent's top male idol, right behind Chelia and Megan. He stood a good half a foot taller than Chelia and had ridiculously blonde spiky hair and went with his absurdly sky blue eyes, he was the gods' gift to teenage girls, or at least that's what him and his fans thought. He had well-toned muscles, worn only the finest clothes, uses Ice-Make magic, though Chelia remembers hearing Lyon mentions how he barely qualifies as a practitioner of it, and he was almost always surrounded by groupies.

He had try to lay the moves on Chelia a few times before in the past but the boy never knew when to take no for an answer. By this point Chelia was just a hair breath away from putting him six feet under, because she could no longer tolerate his cheesy pickup lines or his attempts at proving he was perfect boyfriend material for her. Even if Chelia wasn't dating Romeo, she would never go for a sleaze ball like him. Though for some reason Jenny seems to think he would be a great match for her and apparently the media thought the same thing, saying how both of them would be the ultimate teenage couple if they ever got together.

"I would sooner go out on a date with Ichiya before that trash", Chelia tells herself as she spots Sherry talking to some stage hands.

"Let's move some more lighting to the center and raise the treble on the speakers. Also someone send security to deal with the fan in second row toward the center aisle taking suspicious pictures whenever the female idols are performing", she instructed.

Chelia was impressed by how far Sherry has come along since taking over as her agent even though she still had her own wedding to plan and was still taking guild jobs on top of that. As the stage hand disperse to accomplish the tasks assign to them, Chelia taps Sherry on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Chelia!" Sherry says as she turns around, "Great performance, though you were a tad slow on your high kick there on your third verse. Are you sure you're up for this duet with Arashi?"

" _Though she does worry about me a little too much sometimes",_ Chelia thought as she smiles, "I'm fine, really, though I rather not have to sing with that guy, But anyway…. have you heard any word?"

Sherry looks around them before leading Chelia to her trailer. Once inside Chelia lays down on the couch while Sherry leans against the closet.

"So far there's been no word from Romeo, though he told me he was going to Count Balsamico's castle for the job and that's quite the distance from Magnolia."

"Goddammit", Chelia curses.

"Watch your mouth, young lady", Sherry warned, "I'm sure he'll be here. He did promise, didn't he?"

"You did tell him where to go right?" Chelia asked.

"Of course I did. Though I don't think he's going to like the method of which I chose for him to get backstage", Sherry smiled.

**Side Street to the Concert**

"That was such a long trip I hope I'm not too late." Romeo landed in an alley across the VIP entrance but before he walked out he had one more thing to do. "Alright necklace, check. B.O." He quickly checked to make sure he didn't smell after flying for so long and especially after his fight with Velveno.

"… I think I'm fine." He started to walk out and was going to cross the street but was distracted by the luxury magical vehicles parked along the street. "Whoa! Is that what I think it is?" Romeo rushed up to a sleek black model and fell in love. "How many jewels did this cost?"

He was too caught up in the moment and started trying to fix his hair in the mirror until he felt himself being lifted up by each of his arms. "Alright punk those cars cost more than your life. I don't know how you got this far when this street is closed off, but we are going to take you back."

"Hey! I'm supposed to be here!" He started kicking his legs out and looked to see that he was being carried by men so big they looked like they could have eaten him whole. "Is this how you treat VIPs?" The men didn't listen as they took him further and further away from the entrance.

"Please I need to get in there my gir-, my friend is inside and I need to see her!"

"Yeah, yeah we've heard it all before. I'm sure your best friends with Chelia Blendy too!" The other guard laughed at that as Romeo seemed to slump at the ridiculousness of this situation. What was he supposed to say? Yeah I know Chelia personally?

"Out you go!" Before he knew it they had opened a gate and threw him on his butt. "WAIT!" Romeo rushed to the fence but it shut and the two guards walked back down the closed off side street.

"This can't be happening." He rested his head against the gate and gripped the large chain link fence between him and surprising Chelia. "Please step away from the fence and get to the back of the line. I don't know how you got past me but it won't happen again."

Romeo slowly turned his head to the left and was about to say something but he kept turning his head to see a giant line of people loudly talking about the concert, the idols, or complaining about the wait time. His eyes widened while his jaw dropped and he swiftly moved to the guard sitting in front of the gate in a panic.

"Please let me in! I can't be here long! There has to be a list or something!" The guard seemed have a dull look in his eyes because it was clear he must have heard those words 20 times a minute. "Ugh. Look kid I can't help you just go back into the line alright. It's not the end of the world."

"Just look for Romeo Conbolt please!" Romeo looked over his shoulder to see that people were starting to look at the commotion he was causing. The guard was caught off guard by his panicked attitude and decided to give him a chance. "Alright give me a minute while I check who issued your pass."

"Thank you so much." He refused to look behind him as the chatter grew. The security guard flipped through pages of names and his eyebrow raised when he found his name under Blendy. "You said your name was Romeo Conbolt right?" He quickly nodded and was grateful that it was going to work out.

"Alright what's the password?" Romeo stills for a second as the idea of a password never crossed his mind. "What do you mean password? I'm Romeo Conbolt."

"Hey! I'm Romeo Conbolt!"

"No! I am!"

A few people started to say his name in hopes that they would get in while Romeo couldn't believe what's going on. " _Are people really this way?_ "

"You see what I mean kid? I've had people come up to me claiming to be Arashi himself. Look, there's a password that was made when you bought the passes so that we can properly identify people when they claim them."

" _Password?"_ Romeo thinks, " _What password? Sherry didn't mention anything about a password."_

"Come on kid, if you don't give me the password I'm calling back-up and I'm really going to send you to the back of the line" the guard said.

"Rainbow fire?" Romeo said.

"Try again, kid" He tells him.

"Fairy Tail?" Romeo says.

"Last chance kid, get it right or I call security", the guard says and waves over someone behind Romeo and it's clearly a large, muscular man standing right behind him.

" _Think of something Romeo! Sherry set this up so the password would have to be something that I would know. Something that I would…"_ As Romeo starts to remember the "conversation" he had with Sherry the first week him and Chelia started going out.

**_Flashback to around six months ago_ **

" _Why am I backed up against a tree with Chelia's cousin glaring at me?" Romeo thought as the Doll Attack mage had cornered him while he was taking his daily stroll through the forest. He just started dating Chelia a few days ago and Lamia Scale was back in town for some business with his father. Chelia was down in Magnolia doing a photo shoot for Sorcerer Magazine and would meet up with him later on._

" _Can I help you…Sherry?" Romeo asked while realizing that this was the first direct conversation he ever had with the pink-haired mage._

" _What did you do to my cousin?" she spat out._

" _Pardon me?"_

" _My cousin Chelia! What did you do to her?!", Sherry screamed now while stomping her foot, forcing Romeo to avert his eyes the other way lest they be drawn to the voluptuous woman partially expose chest as it bounces up and down with every stomp, "Ever since we got back from the last time we were here all she talks about is YOU! How she can't wait to see you again and such! So I want to know, WHAT DID YOU DO TO CHELIA?! She never been this riled up over a guy before! She never even had a boyfriend before!"_

" _Really, I'm her first boyfriend?" Romeo thinks, "But I didn't do anything!"_

" ** _Doll Attack: Wood Doll!"_** _she screams out as she extends her hand and a magic circle appears. A moment later, Romeo feels the branches of the tree wrapped around him. As he looks up he sees that a face has appeared on the tree and was looking down at him._

" _You do remember I'm a fire mage, right? I could easil- oh never mind, now you're forming rock monsters", Romeo said as Sherry using the nearby group of stones to form a pair of golems._

" _Now tell me what you did to my cousin! Did you slip her a love potion? Did you hypnotize her? Tell me or else -", Sherry raves before a voice pierces through the forest._

" _Oh my little firefly, Where are you?" Chelia calls out as she comes into the clearing where Romeo and Sherry were at, "My photo shoot wrapped up early so I came to see you as soon as….I... could", as she comes across the scene._

" _What's going on here Sherry?" The Sky God-Slayer asks._

" _I was just…talking to Romeo here", Sherry answers though she didn't dispel her magic so now Romeo was in an awkward position for what will truly be an awkward conversation._

" _Talking?" as Chelia looks from Romeo to Sherry and then back to Romeo, "And what do you have to talk about with my boyfriend?"_

_Sherry's eyes go wide and she nearly collapses from the shock of what she just heard._

" _B-Boyfriend?! Chelia, you never had a boyfriend before!" she pointed out._

" _So? You're dating that Ren guy from Blue Pegasus, what the difference?" Chelia asked._

" _That is another thing entirety!" Sherry tries to argue but Chelia wasn't buying it._

" _Sure it is" Chelia said as she crosses her arms._

" _I thought you had a thing for Lyon?!" Sherry remembered, "The way you been acting lately for Romeo is not the way you acted when you had a crush on Lyon!"_

" _That's all I had for Lyon, a crush. I got over it a while ago", Chelia told her remembering how devastate she was when she finally realizes that Lyon would never see her as more than somewhat of a little sister, but then Romeo enter her life._

" _So what makes this any different?! Huh?! How do I know you're not just using Romeo as a rebound guy?! Worse yet, how do I know he's not using you as a rebound girl, or just so he can become famous himself?!"_

" _If I may", Romeo spoke from his position at the tree as a small blush started to appear on his cheeks, "Chelia is my first…. girlfriend."_

" _It's going to take some time getting used that word.", the boy thought off-handed._

" _Okay, so maybe he not using you as a rebound girl or to get back at someone. But what if he's doing it to make himself famous? You hear about those people all the time, Chelia!" Sherry boomed._

" _I hardly doubt that, Sherry", Chelia assured her._

" _And why is that?!"_

" _Because if you had pay attention to the first four or five months me and Romeo had known each other you would know that he couldn't care less about my status as a pop singer", Chelia explained to her, "In fact, that was the reason why he didn't want to talk to me at first and also, if I recall you were the one who told me to go talk to him the first time I came with you guys to Fairy Tail. I certainly didn't want to go talk to him at the time. So technically, you're the architect of this relationship."_

_Sherry's face goes a little red from embarrassment as she remembers that she indeed was the one who made Chelia go talk to Romeo her first day at Fairy Tail in an effort to strengthen the relationship between the guilds._

_Sherry stares at the ground for a moment before composing herself and walks straight up to Chelia and is staring her in the eyes._

" _Chelia", she starts to say in serious tone, "Is this…. relationship for real? Are you two serious?"_

_Chelia glances over to Romeo who still trapped by the tree and the rock golems. He looks back at her and gives her a slight smile._

" _Is it for real? Yes, I believe so. How serious can it get? I guess we'll find out down the line", Chelia admits to her cousin._

_Sherry looks Chelia directly in the eyes for a little bit longer, looking for any signs of doubt. When she couldn't find any she snapped her fingers, causing the tree to return to normal and the golems to crumble back into piles of stone._

" _You and I eventually are going to have a talk about how all this came about, dear cousin. But until then", Sherry says before turning to stare at Romeo with a hard look, "You better treat her right or they'll be consequences, little firefly."_

_And with that Sherry started heading back to the Fairy Tail guild hall, leaving behind a bewildered Romeo and a sighing Chelia shaking her head as she walks over to Romeo._

" _Sorry about that Romeo. I'm the only family Sherry has left, so she's a little overprotective of me", Chelia apologizes._

" _Don't worry about it. I can totally see where she coming from", Romeo said._

" _But look on the bright side", Chelia started to say, "She still hasn't asked about what happen that day you and me were left alone at the guild hall with Asuka. That would've been embarrassing to explain."_

" _Tell me about it", Romeo agreed as both he and Chelia began to blush from the memory._

**Back to the Present**

"Oh man, I'm going to regret asking this, but is the password…. little firefly?" Romeo whispers to the man. The guard in front of the gate waved off the guard behind Romeo and flashed his light down the street to signal the others down the street.

"Yep that was it. Hold on for a minute while I set you up. You will get your pass over by the backstage entrance down the street." He turned towards the gate and the two guards that previously threw him out were now back on the other side of the gate.

"You have got to be kidding me", Romeo mumbles to himself.

"Hey escort this kid and give him his pass, here's his ID." The guard opened the gate before handing the two guards a piece of paper and let Romeo walk through only for him to stop right in front of the two huge men. "See I told you!" He stuck his tongue out a little before immediately remembering why he was there in the first place.

"We have to go now!" Romeo began to run forward before a hand clasped his shoulder.

"Careful…sir. Just because your VIP doesn't mean you can run off and accidently cause property damage." One of the guards released his hold while the other grumbled about these damn kids these days. Romeo was about to say something but fought against the urge because it would only slow him down.

After they walked up the street the guards Romeo's eyes went wide at how fancy it all was. A long red carpet was rolled out over stairs leading to a grandiose entrance and along the sides it was roped off for photographers but since he was so late it was empty. They walked up the carpet until they reached a large glass door where one last guard was standing next to it behind a protected booth.

"Here's the kid's ID. He's your problem now." The two guards went back to their post in the street to look out for anymore trespassers. The last security looked over the id before turning around and opening a safe filled with backstage passes that went unclaimed.

"Here you go. I'll let you in but first put this on." The guard had a light green wrist bracelet in his hand and signaled Romeo to extend his hand through the hole in the glass so he could put it on.

"I noticed that there were only like three guards between the backstage gate and this entrance. T thought there would be more-hey!" Romeo felt his magic blocked as soon as the bracelet was clamped around his hand.

"We know you're a magic user and that's how you were able to get to the alley across the street. Look behind you." Romeo turned to see nothing but after a while his eyes narrowed to see a lot more guards posted on the rooftops along the closed street. "I-I didn't even see them when I flew in but why and how are you blocking my magic?"

He looked down at his bracelet to see purple script appear around the bracelet before fading away. "Runes…"

"It's not just for you all guests are supposed to wear this if they go in. It's for the protection of the artists and the staff. Well here is your pass enjoy the concert!" The guard handed him a large pass that Romeo hung around his neck. He noticed it said his name in big bold letters underneath **Night of An Thousand Stars** with a picture of many of the idols performing tonight with Chelia in the center.

He walked up to the door and gripped the handle before yanking it back only for it to be locked. "Hold on a second." Romeo groaned before seeing a much larger set of runes appear across the glass double doors. When they faded away he opened the door and walked in.

He walked straight for a while before realizing he was lost.

"Argh! How am I supposed to find her in this maze?" Romeo ran his hand through his hair in aggravation before deciding to just wing it and continue forward. He reached a corridor and said screw it and went down the right side.

It wasn't long until he reached someone but it wasn't who he was hoping for.

"Stop you can't go any farther." Yet another guard three times his size was protecting the rest of the hallway to stop anyone who wasn't authorized to go by him.

"But I have a pass!" Romeo was tired of all this running around and after interacting with so many new people he felt like he was going through round two with Velveno. "Sorry about that sir but your pass does not give you access to the artists' rooms. If you're lost then just turn back around and where you made a right, go make a left and then you-"

"Romeo?! You're here!" A pink blur raced up behind the guard and he looked around and smiled. "Sherry! You have no idea how happy I am to see you. It's been so rough." The guard looked confused for a second before Sherry spoke up.

"It's okay he's with me let him through." The guard nodded and lifted the rope dividing the hallway so Romeo could walk by. "Here follow me." The two walked down the hall and caught up.

"Chelia is going to be so happy that you're here. She's already performed though." Romeo slump a little as they walked and felt really bad. Sherry saw this and tried to lift his spirits. "Hey don't worry about it; she still has one more performance! How did your first big mission go at Count Balsamico's castle?"

"Oh man it was wild. First thing was we had to figure out who he was disguised as and…"As the two continued down the hallway Romeo told her all about what happened. "So you're saying that he still got up after a unison raid and it took a second one for him to quit?" He nodded and readied himself for what happened next.

"It must have been through the power of LOVE~!" Hearts came out of her eyes and she seemed to be love struck. "Haha I guess." Romeo honestly didn't mind it at this point because after all it was originally Sherry's thing.

They reached a door with a sign on it that read GREEN ROOM which threw Romeo off. "I thought I was going to see Chelia?" Sherry opened the door and he saw it was a nice room with a couch in front of large lacrima screen with a long table that ran along the back of the room with snacks and drinks. There were chairs spread out across the room to accommodate for multiple groups but the green room was empty.

"Unfortunately Chelia is already backstage preparing to get on stage and if she saw you…" Romeo caught on to what she was implying. "Yeah I don't know if she would be really focused on performing then. I don't mind, besides-" He leapt into the couch and sunk into the comfy cushions.

"I really admire when she performs in front of so many people. She really is amazing." Sherry smiled at his genuine feelings for her cousin and fought off the urge to shout out LOVE~! again. She grabbed a remote and turned on the screen to show a live stream of the concert.

Romeo shifted in his seat and was annoyed at the pain in back so he pulled out the large black box holding the necklace. "Is that what I think it is Romeo?!" Sherry raced across the room at the sight of him pulling out a large jewelry box.

"I-It's nothing I swear!" He stuttered a little before hiding it away from her eager eyes. "AHHH! IT'S LOVE~!" Sherry jumped up and down before she noticed what time it was from a clock on the wall. "I can't wait to see what you got for her! But I have to go and make sure she is ready!"

"Don't tell her please!" He yelled out to the quick pink blur that left him alone. "Well might as well see who's on now. Romeo saw that there was a male idol with ridiculously blond spiky hair and sky blue eyes with several attractive back-up dancers behind him as he danced around the stage.

"Who is this guy?"

**Back at the Conbolt's Household**

Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine were sitting back watching the concert from the couch in the living room.

"I'll tell you Macao, these girls nowadays are something else!" Wakaba commented on as they watch the back-up singers and dancers move to the beat. Most of the teenage idols these days were barely sixteen years old, but the people they got to sing and dance alongside them were well pass the legal age.

"Damn right they are! Can you imagine how much we would score if we were younger?" Macao said as he watches the movement of the girls onstage which mimic the head singer. As time goes on, something occurs to Macao while watching the dances.

"Hey Wakaba."

"What is it, Macao?"

"This may be the alcohol talking, but does it look like we've seen these dance moves before?"

Wakaba takes a glance over at his best friend before turning back to the lacrima.

"I'll attempt these moves they're pulling off seem a little familiar, but nowadays dances are all the same. A lot of shaking and jumping up and down. So you must be imagining it."

"Yeah you're probably. Forget I said anything", Macao says while in his mind…

" _I know I seem these movements before...but it couldn't be, could it?"_

**On Stage**

"Is everyone having a good time tonight?" The male idol had just finished his last song and after a long night he was wiping his forehead with a towel to take the sweat off.

He had an image he had to keep didn't he?

A loud cheer comes from the crowd as he looks out over the thousands that came out to see him perform or at least that's what he told himself.

"I said: IS EVERYONE HAVING A GOOD TIME TONIGHT?!" He smiled as the whole crowd was reinvigorated and yelled out in unison. "Well you guys are in for a treat because for my last song-"

A loud groan went through the crowd at the idea of him leaving.

"Now, now I'm going to performing a new song for my newest album coming out later this month." He chuckled a little as the crowd cheered again. Gods he loved his career. "But just for you guys I will be getting some special help for this."

The lights dimmed and a minute later a single light shown down on the center of the stage as fog slowly rolled over the floor. The idol was sitting in a black chair with a guitar in his hands and a mic propped up in front of him.

"I love you Arashi!" He smiled a little at the loud fan that interrupted him. "I love you too. Speaking about love: I have to dedicate this new song to the girl who inspired me to write this." He looked to his right and even though no one else could see it, a figure stood in the dark nearby.

The crowd began to cheer again as Arashi started strumming on the guitar and sung out the first few notes of his song before he stood up and kicked away the chair as the music picked up.

As he got to the chorus of his solo the stage lit up and the crowd went wild as back-up musicians started playing on their instruments. The music slowly began to fade as a new voice joined in.

A light angelic female voice rung out and while she was still hidden from view the crowd grew even louder as they all knew who voice the singing belong to. The right side of the stage lit up revealing Chelia singing into her microphone with a big smile on her face and waving to the crowd.

Chelia began walking across the stage towards Arashi who was still strumming his guitar. He matched her smile and watched as she started singing right to him.

Arashi took the lead for his part of the duet before Chelia sung the next part.

The music began to pick back up and the two sung this next part in harmony as the entire stage seemed to ignite as lights were flashing and the crowd was cheering as their two favorite idols were performing together and it was a love song too!

Arashi quickly handed off his guitar to a stage hand while Chelia passed off her mic. What happened next shocked the crowd.

Both of them began to dance in synch as a voice over of Arashi's voice played. He grabbed her waist and spun her around before dipping her and pulling her in close. The crowd cheered out their approval and the two shared a smile that showed up on a giant screen behind them.

"Chelia I'd treat you like the princess you are…" Her eyes went wide but she kept her smile as Arashi's voice sung over a wireless mic and his arm around her waist tightened. The crowd was quiet for a moment as he said those words. The music and time slowed down as he closed his sky blue eyes and leaned in for a kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

**The Concert Pt.2**

**In The Green Room**

At first Romeo was okay with this new guy, Arashi. He was a pretty good singer and clearly was very attractive for a male idol. Then Chelia joined on stage and all his attention was on her as her voice filled the room.

Even if he ever got over his fear of crowds, some small part of Romeo would always wish she would just sing for him alone.

Then things were quickly getting out of hand. When Chelia started walking across the stage and singing those words to Arashi, he may have been a little affected. Romeo's grip on the jewelry box tightened every time Arashi sung to Chelia about him being better than any other guy for her.

Sure, maybe it kind of hurt him a little when Chelia seemed to genuinely enjoying herself and singing with passion about waking up with him. Which obviously wasn't true, pssshh. Romeo's hold on the box loosened as he watched the two danced together and that kind of hurt in a way Velveno never could.

He took a good look at himself at the mirror in the room and then back at the guy on stage with his girlfriend.

This Arashi guy clothes look like they were made from pure silk while Romeo looked down at his and noticed all the cuts and tears that Mrs. Mine had to sew up over the years because money was tight between him, his father, and the guild, thus he couldn't afford new clothes.

The guy was looking down into Chelia's eyes while Romeo remembers all the times got tease by everyone whenever Chelia place her head on top of his whenever they hugged.

Romeo never heard of this Arashi fellow before, but then again more people probably knew of him than they did Romeo.

"Chelia I'd treat you like the princess you are…"

"…What the fuck?" Romeo cursed suddenly and got off the couch when he heard those words. All that hurt he had a second ago turn to jealousy as Arashi had his hands on his girl! He saw that this bastard was going to try to kiss his girlfriend in front of thousands of people!

Fuck that.

The runes on the magic suppression bracelet glowed violently before the light green band was engulfed in flames from Romeo's magic spiking in anger. He raced out of the green room and shoved the guard in the hallway out of the way as he charged backstage.

Romeo didn't know how fast he was moving but before he knew it he was already there pushing staff and expensive equipment out of his way. In the distance he saw Chelia and Arashi already talking to each other off stage.

Perfect.

"Romeo wait! It's not what you-" He blew past Sherry who was trying to warn him but he wasn't listening. "You can't approach Arashi-sama now. He isn't signing autographs now-" A large bodyguard who was must have been as big as Elfman stuck out his hand in an attempt to stop Romeo from walking to them.

"Out of the way," He didn't stop walking as his right fist ignited in fire and swatted the guard like a bug into the side wall, (He takes on a Vulcan at least once a week when he's in the forest). " _When I get my hands on this bastard he'll wish he was never born."_

"AND ANOTHER THING IF YOU EVER EVEN THINK OF COMING IN TEN FEET OF ME I WILL SEND YOU FLYING ACROSS FIORE!" Romeo snapped out of thoughts as he finally heard what Chelia was saying (shouting/cursing).

Romeo then briefly notices a magic forklift was backing up pass them, its warning sound blaring, blocking anyone else from hearing the conversation.

"AND ONE MORE THING, YOU CAN (BEEP) YOUR (BEEP) WITH A (BEEP)(BEEP) YOU (BEEP)(BEEP)! AND THEN YOU CAN (BEEP)(BEEP)(BEEP) WITH ALL THE (BEEP)(BEEP) YOU CAN HANDLE AND ONCE YOU'RE DONE WITH ALL THAT YOU CAN (BEEP)(BEEP)(BEEP)(BEEP) WITH A RUSTY FORK AND LASTLY YOU CAN (BEEP)(BEEP) A (BEEP)(BEEP)(BEEP) WITH A GODDAMN PIG!", Chelia finishes tearing into him as the forklift finally drives off, but Romeo heard every word, clear as day.

"Wow", was all Romeo could say about that, "That's almost as bad as the insults we used to throw around at each other."

Arashi looked like he was about to shit himself as Chelia was a raging typhoon of anger from what just happened. "If Sherry didn't turn the lights off before you actually kissed me then I would have knocked you flat on your ass in front of everyone. Consider yourself lucky that you're still breathing and you can tell everyone that we had a power outage!"

"Chelia…" Her breath caught as she heard Romeo's voice behind her. She turned around to see Romeo standing there confused with a trail of destruction behind him. "You didn't kiss him right…Chelia?" She was shocked but quickly walked up to him.

"Never! I would never, not in a million years' little fire- Romeo." Chelia caught herself from saying her nickname for him and it was so hard for her not to just break all pretenses. "Who is this guy?" Arashi walked over to the two and he made himself the center of attention.

"I can see why you call him little Romeo. Where are your parents little guy?" Romeo looked over at him and the half a foot height difference was dwarfed by the look in Romeo's eyes as his charcoal eyes clashed with Arashi's sky blues.

"What a scary look. Yes, it is a shame that tonight Chelia's sweet, sweet lips were not mine but in the future they will be!" He closed his eyes for a moment and reveled in that great thought ignoring Romeo all together. "I thought surely my private dance lessons would sweep my pink angel off her feet and into my arms but it wasn't enough."

"I knew it! You never danced at your shows before and then all of a sudden you're trying to frisk me!" Chelia spoke up as she was connecting the dots while Arashi took that as a complement. "I had my people look into who your choreographer was and found her. Did my moves strike a familiar spark in your heart?"

She crossed her arms before speaking again. "I can't believe she would teach you." Arashi grimaced a little at that. "It cost…more than the usual amount. BUT! I would pay 100 times that to share another intimate dance with you my love-"

Suddenly a fist came within an inch of his face and the gust of wind that flew off it scared him enough to fall on his butt.

It wasn't Chelia but Romeo standing over him.

"Listen here. If I ever hear from Chelia, her friends, or anyone else for that matter, that you made a move on her or forced her to do something she didn't want to do…" He leaned down and loomed over him with his right hand in a fist in front of his face. "You will personally experience every fire spell I know." His fist lit with his usual orange fire before it quickly flickered through all the colors close enough to Arashi's face for him to know that they each had a unique ability that he did not want to find out.

Chelia had to keep herself from swooning at the prospect of Romeo defending her honor so romantically.

"Tch. You don't scare me. You're just an ant to me." He got up off the ground and dusted himself off. "How dare you try to embarrass me when my Sensei came all the way out here to see her pupils perform?!" Chelia was surprised at that.

"Wait you mean she's here? Oh god I hope she wasn't trying to set us up." Arashi's mood did not falter at that but before he could respond he saw his choreographer far behind Romeo and Chelia. "There she is. Oh Sensei I'm so glad you came did you see me? I was so great- where is she going?"

Romeo and Chelia turned around to see a woman with long dark purple hair quickly walking in the opposite direction of them but what caught Romeo's eye was the flower wreath around her head.

His eyes shut for a moment as a rush of something went through him. A feeling he hadn't had in years but he couldn't figure out what.

But he knew he had to stop her or talk to or at least see her face.

"Romeo, where are you going?" Chelia called out to him as she noticed that he was leaving. Romeo kept walking but it seemed that the woman knew he was following her. She rushed around the corners of the corridors until she raced out the VIP entrance and out on to the side street.

While all this was going on, Sherry, who witness the entire confrontation, including Chelia rant, walks over to Arashi who was still on the ground and glare down at him.

"Your music agency will be hearing from me about this incident, and you'll be lucky if we don't press sexual harassment charges. And I also suggest you stay away from Chelia in the near future or next time it won't be words she throwing at you, but spells", she threaten the boy who was still on the ground, "Now beat it before I squash you like the ant you are."

Arashi didn't need to be told twice as he scrambled out of there.

**Back to Romeo**

"Hey wait! I want to talk to you!" Romeo slammed open the glassed door and rushed down the steps to the side street only to have lost sight of her. _Where did she go? Why am I following her in the first place?_

A bright light to the right of him surprised him and he shielded his eyes. A luxury magic transport drove past him and in the split second as it passed by he looked into the back seat. The woman briefly came into view but she was covering her face so he wouldn't see.

_"WAIT!" A small hand stretched out for her dress…_

_A small Romeo raced after a shadowed womanly figure until he was lost in a sea of people and he desperately tried finding her but no one looked like her. They all just watched and stared-_

Romeo clutched his chest as his heart raced at the broken vision that suddenly flooded into his mind. His eyes flickered back up the street but soon lost sight of the car as it quickly picked up speed and raced off with a screech.

 _W-What was that?_ He took deep breaths to collect himself before reaching behind his back and grabbing the jewelry box he hid underneath his clothes. _I can't believe I just left Chelia to chase after some stranger. I have to give her this._

Romeo turned away from the street after giving one last look and started to head back on the red carpet and up the steps to the entrance. He grabbed the handle to the glass door and pulled on it only for it to be locked again.

"Hey can you open this up again?" The guard that was in the booth did not open the door and the reason was simple. "I can't open that door we are in lockdown."

"What?"

"We just had a blackout and it looks like a rogue mage has infiltrated because our magic radars caught a significant amount of magic spike just as the blackout occurred." He connected the dots and quickly figured out he was the rouge mage. "In this case for the safety of everyone the concert has been cancelled but thankfully there was no one else scheduled after Arashi so everyone got their money's worth."

"But I have to get back in!" The guard said nothing before shaking his head. "Your pass is only for the concert and even if you were inside in the first place you would have been escorted out."

"What about the performers?"

"They and the staff will be protected until the threat is cleared. I can't talk about this anymore please leave on your own or I'm sure a pair of guards would love to see you again." A metal shield covered the glass booth and blocked Romeo's view of the guard.

"Are you kidding me?! The one time I try to be a good boyfriend I screw it up! ARGH!" Romeo was going to pull his hair out and was thinking of what he could do until a stray light from a flashlight caught his eye. It came from across the street, right in the alley Romeo landed in with his phoenix.

He looked around before the light began to randomly turn on and off as if to say "yes I'm talking to you idiot, come over here." Romeo quickly walked across the street and into the dark alley to see who was trying to bring him over.

"Password?"

"I'm not in the mood for passwords." His fist ignited and lit up the alley to show a man wearing a black shirt with the word "Security" on the front of it. "Gods, Sherry didn't tell me Chelia's secret boyfriend had a temper issue and could please not let every guard nearby know we're here?"

"Oh great, does everyone know about it now?" Romeo groaned as he let his flame die down.

"Sherry kind of had to tell me about the guy that I'm supposed to sneak into the concert if something happened. That would be the smart thing to do. But don't worry I won't tell a soul", as he stretches out a hand to Romeo, "Paul Grion or to you Plan B."

"Romeo Conbolt", as he shakes the hand.

"Got to say Romeo, you're a lot different than I expected."

"What were you expecting?" he asked.

"Not you", Paul merely said.

Romeo didn't know what to make of the remark so he decided to change the subject, "Tell me Paul, how exactly do you know Chelia and Sherry? They must trust you a lot to tell you about me."

"My family lost everything a few years back after a Dark Guild attacked our village. We were living off the streets of Margaret Town when Sherry found us and gave me and my wife jobs as Chelia's bouncer and make-up artist. Now me, my wife, and our two kids live under a good roof and get to eat real foods again, not the scraps people would throw out", Paul told him.

"Wow, Sherry did that?" Romeo was amazed.

"Yep, not if you don't mind, I believe you have somewhere to be right now" Paul stated as he pulled out a large sack from behind him.

"What's that for?" Romeo asked.

"This is your ticket back inside the concert without arousing suspicion. Because if you haven't noticed, everyone is at DEFCON 1 with so many celebrities 'at risk' and they won't let some random kid in." Paul tells him.

Romeo looks at the bag which said "Mail Bag" on it then back to Paul.

"This was Sherry's idea, wasn't it?"

"Oh you better fucking believe it", Paul laughs as Romeo shakes his head in frustration and climbs into the bag, "Now don't make any sudden movements and keep quiet. By the way, what's in the box, something nice?"

Romeo looks up to glare at the man who only smiles back down at him before closing up the bag.

"Best get comfortable kid, this could take a while", as Paul starts walking back across the street.

Paul continued until he reached the shielded glass booth and knocked on the metal. "Arima! Arima open up! This bag is starting to get heavy!" The metal protection slid up like a garage door to reveal the guard that refused to let Romeo in.

"That's just like you Paul to get fan mail while everyone else is on high alert." He looked at the large sack that he was holding over his shoulder and let out a long whistle. "Damn that looks heavy from here. Gods how can anyone read all those letters?" Paul shrugged and didn't come up with an answer.

"As much as I love catching up with you buddy. I kind of need you to let me in before I end up pulling a muscle." Arima quickly released the runes around the door and let him in. "Thanks I'll let Yuna know that I saw you." The guard waved before sealing up the booth again.

While Paul was walking through the private back-stage area Romeo was plotting his revenge against Sherry. " _I swear to Obad-Hai, I'm going to stink bomb Sherry's wedding...wait a minute, what's an Obad-Hai?"_ Romeo thought as he was bundle up in the sack that Paul was carrying over his shoulder.

"Hey Paul, what you got there?" Romeo hears a voice ring out as he felt him suddenly stop.

"Just some late fan mail, that's all! You know how Chelia loves to personally read every letter!" Paul shouts back.

"Ain't that the truth?" was the reply back.

" _Chelia reads every letter personally? That must take quite a while",_ Romeo thinks as he feels Paul walk up a short flight of stairs and opening a door.

"Hey Honey", Romeo hears from a feminine voice right before he hears kissing sounds.

"Hi dear", Paul responds.

"Is this him in the bag?" the voice asks as Romeo was place on the ground and the bag was opened up. Romeo finds himself staring into the brown eyes of a woman in her later thirties with dark blonde hair.

"Hi! I'm Yuna, Paul's wife and Chelia's make-up artist." She extended her hand and Romeo responded with a slow handshake. "So you know about…"

"Oh yes! It's always so cute when she's gushing over you and telling me about your dates from the day before while I fix her hair." Romeo mentally chalked up yet another person that he shouldn't talk to if he wants to keep his pride because he's feeling pretty embarrassed again.

"Anyways I don't think you want to talk with silly old me. Chelia is in room down the hall. You should be able to recognize it right away!"

"Thanks!" Romeo rushed away and quickly looked for the room. Paul wrapped his arm around Yuna as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Aren't they so cute together?" He did say anything until Romeo was out of earshot. "I thought he was gay when I first saw him- OW!" She slapped him on the chest and chastised him for that comment.

"Not it. Not it. Not it. Here it is!" Romeo said out loud as he found a door with "Chelia Blendy" on it in bold letters. He quickly checked to make sure he still had the necklace. He let out a sigh of relief and hid it again before slowly opening the door.

"Stupid Arashi. Stupid concert. Stupid little firefly." Chelia mumbles to herself. She was resting her head on her legs as she balled up on her high chair for make-up. The room looked even better than the green room, there were flowers everywhere, and a large mirror in front of the chair she was sitting in, all the amenities someone could want, and lastly a very expensive red loveseat for two.

"Is now a bad time?"

"My love! You've come back to me!" Chelia seemed to teleport from the chair to Romeo before wrapping him up in a hug. He blushed a little at the sudden contact but slowly wrapped his arms around her gently. "I'm so sorry about Arashi. I had no idea that he would try something like that. I should have known-"

"It's okay. He's a real asshole anyways. Let's sit down you must be tired after doing so much tonight." He let her go before pulling her hand and leading them to the loveseat. "I was only able to see a little bit of the concert but I could tell you were awesome."

"Aww was my little firefly captivated by my performance?"

"Like you were the only one there," Chelia was stunned by the quick response that he would normally be too shy to say. But on the other hand Romeo had a playful smile on his face. "Don't play with my heart like that little firefly!"

"Sorry, sorry. Ugh." Romeo leaned back into the loveseat as a wave of exhaustion hits him. _Now I get tired?_ "Are you okay?" Chelia immediately reacts and her hands glow with a greenish light. She hovered them over his chest with her eyes closed.

"You over-exhausted your magic. Don't tell me…" Romeo looked away but could imagine the look on her face. "I may have used my dragon-slayer mode on my mission…" He briefly looked over to see Chelia with a mad look on her face but it was clear he needed to continue. "I then may have eaten fire for a quick boost to create and hold a large fire construct for over an hour…"

"Is that it?"

"No." Romeo let out it a small voice afraid for his life and with his eyes closed he finished. "I then may have drunk a magic potion to suddenly refill my magic supply and again fly for another hour to get here. Where I may or may not have used enough magic in a single burst to break anti-magic runes."

He slowly opened his eyes to see Chelia not mad but instead really sad. "Chelia I just-" She stood up from the loveseat and walked up to the high chair. Chelia gripped the back of the chair and tried to hide her emotions but the mirror in front of the chair clearly showed him.

"Why? I tell you again and again not to push yourself. It hurts me to see you like this." Romeo slowly stood up and hugged her from behind. "I know. I'm sorry but you can't ask me to do that." He reached behind his back with one of his arms to pull out the jewelry box and he slowly got the necklace out.

"I will always go out of my way for you…my Dark Sky Angel." Romeo gently put the new necklace around her as she gasped at the expensive gift. "It looks great on you." Chelia lightly touched the pink diamond in the center and saw it was engraved with the words "Dark Sky Angel"

She brought up her gloved hand to her eyes and wiped away the tears that were forming. "Oh my little firefly…I love you so much." She turned back around and quickly kissed him before he could even think. Slowly the two moved backwards without stopping until Romeo's legs hit the loveseat and he fell onto it.

Chelia was still on top and kept kissing him until she suddenly put both of her hands on his chest and pushed herself up for a moment. "Promise me." They were both a little out of breath but Romeo was trying his best to stay focused. "What?"

"You won't use magic for a while until you recover." Romeo nodded before trying to kiss her but she lightly held him down. "And that you'll listen to me in the future."

"Okay. I promise."

"Good. Now kiss me." Romeo pulls her back in and kisses her lightly. "If you talk like that all the time I would listen a lot more." He smiles a little before the kiss becomes much slower and deeper. With one hand he holds the back of her head, running his fingers through her soft pink hair while Chelia mimics him and runs her hands through his dark purple hair. After a while she grows bold and lightly runs her tongue over his lips. Romeo opens his mouth slightly, meeting his tongue with hers, he almost wants to back away at the foreign feeling but Chelia's hands in his hair lightly reassure him that this feeling is okay. This intimacy was on a whole other level as it was kindling an intense fire in him.

And that fire slowly burned all night long.

But luckily both teens were semi-responsible, so it didn't go any further than kissing. It also helped that both of them knew in the back of their minds that Sherry was most likely on the other side of the door listening in to make sure no funny business happens, and she was.

"Ah ~LOVE~", she tells herself before remembering what she saw when Romeo pass her on his way to kill Arashi.

_"He completely destroyed his magic suppression bracelet. I can see high-level mages like Natsu and Lyon doing that, but Romeo?"_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

**Run.**

Romeo doesn't remember the walk home after the concert. He was too busy being on cloud nine after his and Chelia's heavy make-out session. When he woke up the next morning, he got dressed, made some breakfast for himself and his dad so he could eat later, grabbed the book Totomaru-Sensei gave to him and took off to the Fairy Tail guild hall on auto-pilot as his mind was still in a daze.

Taking the scenic route through the forest, he took in the peace and quiet while he strolled. By the time he got to the guild hall the sun was barely above the horizon and as usual Romeo was here before the Strauss Siblings, Kinana, or even Master Makarov showed up. But he didn't mind that today cause after what happen last night nothing could bring him down.

Or at least that's what he thought until he saw the Sorcerer Weekly that was sitting in front of the guild hall. The guild had a monthly subscription that was delivered to them though they had to pay extra for them to come way out here to drop it off.

And holy shit, right smack dab on the cover, in fact it was taking up the whole cover, was the picture of that asshole Arashi about to kiss Chelia. The caption at the bottom read:

_**YOUNG LOVE IN THE AIR FOR TWO OF THE HOTTEST TEENAGE STARS AROUND?** _

" _Oh gods damn it!",_ Romeo thought even though he knew full well what happen, but no doubt this would cause trouble for Chelia.

At that very moment all he wanted to do was get on the guild's communication lacrima and call Chelia to see how she doing. But seeing how he didn't have a key to the door, he had no choice but to wait for someone who does to show up. So he decided to catch up on his reading of Professor Inferius' notes of fire magic. He took a seat on the ground next to the door and lean on the wall as he begun to read.

He's already read most of the book but still likes to look over it from time to time. It had tips on performing fire magic efficiently such as steady breathing, positive control, and even using emotions to fuel one's flames. But there was always that section full of weird symbols that he could never figure out. They seem faintly familiar for some reason but the boy couldn't place where he saw them before. He has looked through book after book on ancient languages in the town library, but found nothing that could help him and he was starting to wonder if he was wasting his t-

"Hey Romeo, what'cha you got there?"

"AHHHH!" Romeo screams as he throws his head back into the wall with a resounding thump.

As he lies on the ground clutching the back of his head, Levy is standing over him, apologizing profusely.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I thought you knew I was there with you being a Dragon-Slayer and all", she said.

"Ouch, I only have the enhance senses when I'm in Dragon-Slayer mode. Other than that, I'm just normal person", Romeo explained as he rubbed his head, "Why are you here so early?"

"I'm here to take account of all the books Jet and Droy brought with them when the First Guild Hall closed down. I have to see what's available to me and look for a good place to put a bookshelf."

" _Of course it would be books. Books are usually the main reason behind anything Levy does",_ Romeo thought to himself.

Levy picks up the book he dropped and began looking through it like the bookworm she was known to be.

"Lots of information in here but it doesn't look like any book I've ever seen before", she commented.

"It's a book of notes written down by Professor Inferius," Romeo told her as the headache finally subsided.

"The Hellfire Scholar? He wrote this?" Levy asked.

"You've heard of him before?" Romeo wondered.

"He was only one of the most renowned magic professors ever. His knowledge of fire magic surpassed all who came before him. I heard he passed away some years ago." Levy informed Romeo, "How did you get a hold of this book?"

"It was given to me by Totomaru-sensei who was a student of his", Romeo explained.

"I remember reading somewhere that he did have a few students who he taught rare fire magic to throughout his career. Never thought one of them would be Totomaru."

"Life is full of surprises", Romeo says.

"Yes it is. Hey Romeo, what are these strange symbols drawn here?" Levy asked as she turned the book around and points to the very symbols Romeo was thinking of before Levy's…. surprise.

"From what I was told they were written in the same place that Professor Inferius found my lacrima", Romeo explained.

"You found your lacrima?", a voice from behind them asks causing Romeo and Levy to jump in surprise as they turn around and see a bored-looking Laxus standing there.

"Laxus, what are you doing here?! Aren't you still banned?" Levy asks, though she instantly regretted it as a tick mark appears on the Lightning Dragon-Slayer head.

"If you must know, the old man asked me to drop by every other day to see how I'm doing. I may be banned from the guild, but I'm still his grandson. So for now I'm waiting for him to show up.", Laxus explained.

"Since you're kicked out of the guild, what do you do for money then? Have you joined another guild?" Romeo asked.

"No, I'm a freelancer mage. I take jobs at discount prices, or jobs no guild wants to get their hands dirty over", Laxus answered.

"Actually it's a good thing you're here. I was hoping both you and Romeo could answer a question for me", Levy started to say.

"And what's that?" Romeo asked.

"Gajeel, Natsu, and Wendy, all said that they were taught Dragon-Slayer magic from actual dragons. Until Tenrou I used to believe they were just making it up. But since I witness Acnologia's power first-hand I can't say that anymore. So I have to ask, how did you two learn Dragon-Slayer magic seeing how, I assume, you didn't have dragons trained you?"

Both Laxus and Romeo stare at Levy for a moment before the more powerful mage answers…

"Despite what most people believe, the lacrima which gives me the ability to be able to cast Dragon-Slayer magic doesn't give me the knowledge of the spells that are associated with it. I had to search through countless libraries, looking through ancient texts to discover them. Hell, the reason I took such high-paying jobs was to be able to have the money necessary to purchase spell books, scriptures, and tomes from different countries all over the world. Shit, I was even able to find a book written by the last Lightning Dragon-Slayer from four centuries ago in a bookstore in Crocus. Cost me half of the money I made that year to buy it."

"Oh okay, then I can assume that Romeo learned his magic from this book of his and through Natsu's training", Levy said.

"Hate to break it to you Levy, but I didn't learn all of the Fire Dragon-Slayer spells through that book or any book for that matter and I didn't learn it through Natsu either, well at least not the way you think I did", Romeo interjected causing both Laxus and Levy to give him strange looks.

"What are you talking about kid?" Laxus asked, curious at this new bit of information.

"At first I just was able to do all the moves I remember seeing Natsu-nii do a lot when I was younger, but that only covered the Iron Fist, the Dragon Roar, and the Wing attack ", Romeo explained.

"Then how did you learn the rest of them, Romeo?" Levy asked.

"It's weird really, but they came to me in dreams", Romeo replied, "I would have a dream about me pulling off a certain spell and the next day, after a few tries, I able to do it. I don't pull it off perfectly, but after a few days of practice I improve."

"Seriously?" Laxus asks

"Has this ever happen to you Laxus?" Levy asks the Lightning Mage.

"Hell no, this is the first I ever heard of something like this happening", Laxus responds.

"Do they still happen?" Levy asked Romeo.

"Not as often as they use to, but every now and then I get one."

"When did these dreams first start?"

"Not long after I got the lacrima put inside of me."

"I see", Levy says.

"Believe or not that's not even the weirdest part. They felt extremely similar to a dream I had back when I was a kid; back before Tenrou happen. It occurred while I was having a slightly traumatic experience when I was a kid", Romeo told her.

"When was this?" the Solid Script mage asked concerned about the boy.

Romeo quickly glances over at Laxus before answering, "I'd rather not talk about it here."

"That's fine Romeo, it's your business", Levy assures him, "But still this is unusual for you to learn spells through dreams."

"Believe me, I thought it was weird too. Even Jura couldn't figure out why it was happening. So I decided to look through Professor Inferius book, hoping it could provide some insight into it, but it couldn't tell me anything. My dad and I just chalked it up to the lacrima in general and stopped worrying about it. It wasn't harming my body so we decided to leave it be", Romeo told them.

The trio stand in silence for a moment before Levy speaks up, "Romeo, is it okay if I borrow this book to see if I can translate these symbols?"

"Go ahead Levy, they could have the answers to why I was having those dreams", Romeo tells her as all three of them turn to see Kinana walking up to the guild with Master Makarov walking alongside her.

As Kinana unlocks the door to go inside, Master Makarov is giving everyone a confused look.

"Is there a problem that needs to be address?"

"No there isn't Gramps", Laxus tells him.

"No, we were just talking while waiting for the guild to open", Levy tells him to which Romeo nods his head in agreement.

"Very well then, Laxus meet me in my office once you're done with whatever business you have out here", Master Makarov says as he walks inside with Levy right behind him. Romeo moves to step into the building when he suddenly feels a heavy hand on his shoulder. His face contorts into a frighten expression as he hears one of the most powerful mages he knows speak to him in a serious tone.

"We have some more things to talk about, kid", Laxus says as one hand closes the door while the other turns Romeo around to face him, "I'm going to ask you some questions and you're going to give me some answers."

Romeo could hear his heart frantically beat within his chest as he looked up at Laxus who only stared at him back with his arms crossed and a light scowl on his face. He was simply standing there but Romeo could feel the magic radiating off of him as if it was body heat. Before today, Romeo has never spoken a single word to the Lightning Dragon-Slayer because he never had too. Natsu didn't like talking to him therefore Romeo didn't either. But now he was starting to see why most of the mages at Fairy Tail including Natsu, Erza, and Master Makarov didn't take Laxus lightly. His towering stature alone was enough to make Romeo want to run and hide.

Fighting Vulcans seems like a much easier task to Romeo right at this moment.

"Tell me Romeo", Laxus started to speak and Romeo tried to mentally and physical prepare himself for whatever was about to come. He was a second away from switching to a fighting stance, even though he knew how futile it would be, when Laxus finished what he was saying…

"Was I the reason why you were traumatized as a child?" Laxus asked, shocking Romeo.

"Wait what?"

"Don't think that I didn't notice the way your eyes flickered towards me when Levy asked you that question", Laxus said.

Romeo was hesitant for a moment before Laxus reassured him.

"I'm not going to attack you, if that's what you're worried about. I mean seriously you think I would when Gramps is literally only a couple yards away. Now are you going to tell me or not?"

Silence passes between them for a moment before Laxus merely shrugs and moves for the door…

"It was the day you tried to take over the guild", Romeo started to say as Laxus stops and listens.

"I had to stay home and finished up some housework so I could go to the parade that night, so I wasn't there at the guild hall that morning. I went down into the basement behind our house to get some items. The entrance was on the outside of the house and the only light was out so I left one of the doors open for the sunlight to shine in. After I got what I was looking for I heading back upstairs when I felt a strange magic activated and the next thing I know the door is suddenly slammed shut. No matter how much I pushed on the door to open it, the thing wouldn't budge even though it didn't have a lock whatsoever. I heard the sound of magic being casted and people fighting on the other side of the door, but they didn't hear me even as I cried for help and pounded my fists on the door."

" _It must of have been one of Freed's runes activating that cause the door to slam shut",_ Laxus thought as Romeo continued speaking.

"I was a crybaby back then and I was really scared of the dark. I even had a nightlight in my room until I was nine. But I was down there in the basement for hours in near pitch darkness, my only source of light being whatever sunlight shined through the cracks in the door. Eventually that went away as the sun went down. But by that time I had tired myself out through all my screaming and crying. As I lay curled up on the floor shivering I did everything I could to keep warm but Dad didn't keep blankets or anything like that down in the basement", Romeo said.

"And that's when the dream happened?" Laxus asked.

Romeo nods, "I was so desperate for a source of light as well as something to keep me warm as I waited for my dad to eventually come find me. As I drifted off to sleep I had a dream that my entire body was on fire. I could feel the heat but the flames didn't hurt me at all. The next thing I know I'm was being shook awake by my dad who was using his Purple Flare magic to light up the basement. Turns out the reason he couldn't come home sooner was because the injuries he suffered during the battle hadn't healed to a degree that would have allowed him to move and that Wakaba was in just as bad shape as he was. He still apologizes for not being there though and promises to get me more books to read. After that I went to the parade and almost completely forgot about it."

"I see", Laxus simply said as he looked down at Romeo, "It would seem my plans to make Fairy Tail stronger unknowingly got people who weren't part of the guild involved", as he moved to open the door.

From what Romeo has heard about Laxus he figures that was probably the closest thing he was going to get to an apology, so he decided not to press the issue. But just as he about to enter the guild hall he bumps into the back of Laxus.

"One more thing Romeo", Laxus says this time in a more serious tone, "If you ever tell anyone that I showed concern for you…"

Laxus didn't even finish talking before a bolt of lightning strikes the ground right next to Romeo who jumps away in fright.

"I thought you said you weren't going to attack me!" Romeo cried out as he turns to see a smirking Laxus

"It didn't hit you did it?" Laxus laughed as he went inside leaving a baffled Romeo in his wake. As he shakes in head in disbelief he couldn't help but think of some of the parts of his story that he left out. How his dad only knew that he was down there because he thought he felt a wild fire going off in the basement and how he and Romeo noticed faint scorched marks on the ground where the boy had been sleeping. Romeo and Macao didn't tell anyone about that day, mostly because Macao didn't want to be seen as a terrible father.

**Inside the Guild Hall**

Romeo goes over to the bar and asks for the communication Lacrima from Kinana. After she places it in front of him, he thanks her and head over to a corner of the guild to talk with Chelia without bothering everyone else. Romeo began dialing the runes that would connect him to Chelia and Sherry house in Margaret Town.

Despite what most people thought, while Chelia was rich she didn't flaunt her money too much like the other stars. She lived with Sherry in a two-bedroom apartment not far from their guild hall. When Romeo asked why she doesn't live somewhere more fancy, Chelia explained that she was saving her money up so that Sherry and Ren could have an extravagant wedding and honeymoon paid for by Chelia herself as a thank you to Sherry for taking care of her for all these years.

Anyway, after the lacrima rung for a couple seconds, Romeo is greeted by an angry-looking Chelia.

"We already told you we're not answering anymore questions!" The God-Slayer boomed, scaring Romeo, as the loud noise echo through the guild hall, making him fall out of his chair.

"Hi to you too, Chelia", Romeo groans as he pulls himself back up.

"Oh Romeo, I'm so sorry! I can't tell who calls me so I thought you were another reporter asking about last night!" Chelia apologized.

"Yeah, I saw the Sorcerer Weekly cover this morning. I guess people are going nuts over this?" Romeo asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe, even after Sherry and our music agency gave press statements last night and early this morning, a lot of people still assumed that there's something going on between me and Arashi. Reporters have been swarming outside our house since before the sun came up. It took threats from Jura, Lyon, Toby, and Yuka to make them disperse, but they're still calling nonstop and Sherry had to stop me from destroying this lacrima about ten minutes ago." Chelia sighs, looking like she hasn't gotten much sleep after the concert.

Romeo couldn't help but feel guilty about this, "You know maybe he wouldn't have try anything if people knew that you were already dating me."

Chelia smiles a little at this, "I doubt that would have stop him. He thinks that he the perfect guy and that girls would dump their boyfriends for him at the drop of a hat."

"I could beat the crap out of him if you want", Romeo joked knowing he would never attack someone unless they harmed someone close to him first or it was perceived that they were going to harm them.

"As much as I would love to see you defend my honor and knocked Arashi around like a ragdoll, that would just cause even more problems", Chelia told Romeo.

"It was worth a shot", Romeo said, his eyes then looked down to her neck to see she was wearing his necklace and a smile naturally rose to his face. "Something must be making you happy- I hope it's me." She gave him a bright smile that came from seeing her little firefly happy.

"How did you know?" He laughed a little at that before continuing, "You're still wearing my gift." Chelia looked down at her necklace before lifting it up a little and watched the engraving play in the light.

"I haven't taken it off since…" She ducked a little to hide the blush that showed up on her face but Romeo could see it. He wasn't faring any better though as much as he wished he could. "Last night."

"Ah, yeah, I'm glad you love it. I'm tempted to fight another high bounty criminal to get you another gift." Romeo saw that she was starting to get comfortable and rested her head on her hand.

"And just what were you expecting in return… my… little… firefly?" She lightly sung his nickname and he gulped a little with a new blush on his face. _Gods,_ _I'm still really bad at this._ Chelia smiled at his reaction and she secretly liked that she had this effect on him.

"Something new…I'm a pretty creative wizard you know." Romeo smirked a little at that while Chelia gave her own smile at the game they were playing. "Oh you don't have to buy me gifts if you want to try something…"

Romeo went wide eyed as she leaned into the communication lacrima and whispered:

"You can have my love~ anytime…little firefly", Romeo started to overheat as steam seemed to rise from his ears.

The door to Master Makarov's office opened up and both Laxus and Master Makarov walked out. Romeo tried to compose himself as he turned his head over there to see what they were saying.

"Now you come and see me if you run into any issues with the Magic Council or another guild while you're a freelancer, you come see me, understand?" Master Makarov told Laxus.

"I'll be fine, old man", Laxus grumbles as he leaves the building.

"Master Makarov", Levy calls out as the elderly, but powerful man turns around to go back to his office, "Why not just lift Laxus' ban? He did help defeat Grimoire Heart back on Tenrou. Surely that's enough to let him back in, I mean no one was severe hurt during his attempt at taking over the guild and it been seven years."

Master Makarov takes a deep breath and lets it out before answering Levy's question.

"Levy, there is nothing in the world I would rather do then have my grandson back at Fairy Tail. But since I was the master who banished him and the fact that it became public to the other guilds seeing how he was one of our strongest mages, if I personally were to lift the ban on him, it would have other guild masters, maybe even the Magic Council, questioning my judgment and thinking that I'm only doing it because he's mine grandson", Makarov explains, "And that is the last thing Fairy Tail needs right now."

"I see", Levy says before she goes back to trying to translating Professor Inferius' book.

Master Makarov then turns his attention toward Romeo and notices that Chelia on the communication lacrima.

"Ah, perfect. Chelia, could you be a dear and inform your master that I'll be coming to Margaret Town in three days to personally thank her for the support she had shown my guild during my absence? It's only thanks to her and Master Bob that Fairy Tail is even still open", Makarov asked.

"Okay, I'll let her know this morning when I get to the guild", Chelia agreed.

"Can I come along too, Master?" Romeo asked.

"I don't see why not", Master Makarov told him.

"Alright, I'll you go for now and see you in three days", Romeo told Chelia.

"Okay! I don't have any events for a while after last night concert. Also that's the same day my choreographer from Crocus will be here to go over my new dance routine. She's the one from last night." Chelia told Romeo, "See you then, my little firefly!"

" _Good. I can finally figure out why she seemed so familiar",_ Romeo thought as he said goodbye to Chelia

**A Few Hours Later**

The rest of the guild finished showing up a few hours later. Most of them were doing their usual of either starting brawls or looking for jobs to complete. Romeo couldn't help but noticed though that the Strauss Sisters had a menacing aura among them that kept everyone, including Cana, away from the bar. It took him a while but he realized that these auras were being directed toward Elfman of all people, who looked like he had a rough night. Also he noticed that Evergreen was sending a seething glare towards the Take Over mage as well.

" _Wonder what that's all about?"_ Romeo thought to himself before turning his attention back to Natsu who was trying to give him pointers on pulling off a better Wing Attack.

"You don't spread your arms all the way back like most people assume, that only-" was all Romeo could hear from Natsu before he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He does a quick glance in the direction he felt it coming from and noticed that Wendy was watching him from across the room as she sat down enjoying her milkshake and Carla was talking to her about something.

" _Wonder what's on her mind?"_ Romeo thinks to himself until he notices a hand waving in front of him and he gives his attention to Lucy who had been sitting with him, Natsu, and Happy this whole time.

"You okay there Romeo? You seemed out of it for a second", Lucy says.

"Nothing really, I just noticed Wendy looking over here at me, that's all", Romeo responded nonchalant causing Natsu and Happy to look over at Wendy. The sudden attention caused the Sky Dragon Slayer to hide her head in embarrassment while forcing Lucy to hit Natsu upside his head.

"Don't go and stare at her like that! You're embarrassing her!" she screeches as Natsu rubs the back of his head in pain.

"Sorry", he moans.

"Anyways, Romeo I've been meaning to ask you something", Lucy says as she looks at the boy.

"What is it?"

"How were you able to pull off not one but two Unison Raid with Wendy last night?" The Celestial Spirits mage asks catching the attention of both Mira and Lisanna.

"What do you mean?" Romeo wondered, "We simply combined our attacks to pull it off."

"Unison Raids don't work like that Romeo", Juvia said as she and Gray, who was still recovering but can move now, walked over to the table, "Love rival and Juvia pulled one off before when we were at the Tower of Rem when we were facing Vidaldus Taka. And when Juvia, and Gray-sama were facing off against the lizard men. Gray-sama's sheer determination and love for Juvia was more than enough to allow us to perform a Unison Raid and defeat them. Juvia's love for Gray-sama rose that day to a level that even Juvia didn't think was possible! Our love for one another saved the day!"

The whole guild stopped what they were doing to stare at Juvia after another one of her overdramatic declarations of love for Gray. After a moment they simply shrugged and went back to whatever they were doing beforehand.

" _I can't help but see the similarities Juvia shares with Chelia. I pray to whatever god is listening that our relationship doesn't evolve into something like that",_ Romeo tells himself.

"I think what Juvia is trying to explain Romeo is that Unison Raids are rare and in order to do one, the people involve need to have two things: One, they need to have the same goal in mind." Lucy started to explain after staring at Juvia for a moment.

"Okay… we both wanted to defeat Velveno and make sure he didn't get the ring", Romeo stated slowly.

"They also need to have a certain level of trust in one another", Gray finished.

"I trust Wendy and I'm sure she trusts me", Romeo said.

"You're sure it doesn't go deeper than that, Romeo?" Mira asks as she walked over to the table, her previous dark mood vanished without a trace, "To pull off two Unison Raid attacks in one night is truly something."

"I don't see why everyone making a big deal out of this. Wendy and I are friends so it shouldn't be that farfetched for us to pull off something like that." Romeo stated.

"Have you ever done something like that with Chelia?" Mira asks.

"Well no, me and Chelia haven't been on any jobs that required us to use our magic to that degree", Romeo answered.

"Have you ever done one while training?" Mira questioned.

"Well we have try to combine our attacks a few times in the past, but it never worked out", Romeo confessed not knowing how much the answer meant to Mira.

" _Yes! Yes! Oh yes! This is better than I could have ever hoped!"_ The eldest Strauss thought on the inside while maintaining her innocent smile on the outside.

"Wow Romeo, you've never done something like that with your girlfriend. No wondered everyone thought you were gay", Happy says while munching on his fish with his back to Romeo.

If Warren or anyone else had been listening to Romeo via telepathic magic they would have heard the sound of glass shattering from within the boy's mind as Erza's comment from last night came back to him. He then slowly turns his head towards the exceed, who is unaware of the sudden change in the boy personality.

"I'm sorry Happy, but could you repeat that?" Romeo asked through a strained smile.

Happy turns around and looks toward Romeo with the same innocent smile on his face and was about to answer when he spots Gray, Juvia, and Lucy all shaking their heads frantically while also forming X's with their arms.

" _Are they doing some new type of dance?"_ Happy thinks before shrugging and looking back toward Romeo who still has a craze smile on his face, "But yeah, everyone thought you were gay."

"Define 'everyone'." Romeo nearly demanded.

"Evergreen, Bickslow, Lucy, Erza, Freed, Juvia, Gray," the exceed starts counting off names, "Pretty much everyone besides Natsu, Wendy, Max, Bisca, Alzack, and Mira. I think even Master Makarov and Gildarts thought you were."

Romeo turns to glare at Lucy, Juvia, and Gray, who were trying to whistle casually while slowing backing away. But then Romeo turns his glare towards the bar where his father was at.

" _I remember him being exceedingly happy the day he found out I was dating Chelia",_ Romeo thought as he got up and walk over to his father and tap him on the shoulder. Macao glances over to see his son standing with a somewhat smile on his face.

"Yeah, what is it son?" Macao yawns while feeling the effects of staying up late last night.

"Hey dad", Romeo said, "Remembered the day me and Chelia announced that we were dating?"

"Yeah, happiest day of my life", Macao said nonchalantly.

"Why was it the happiest day of your life?"

"Because I thought that you were going to turn out gay. Not that there anything wrong with you being gay. I would have loved you regardless", he explained before finally putting the pieces of the puzzles together, "I shouldn't have said that."

"No you shouldn't have", Romeo tells him as he lets off his strongest Smelly Flames attack ever, filling the guild hall with the smell of a dirty mop that had been sitting in a bucket of expired milk. Luckily, Alzack, Bisca, and Asuka, were away visiting some family.

**Moments Later**

While the building was being aired out and everyone had finished up coughing up a storm, Erza decided to address everyone.

"Listen up, everyone! I have an announcement to make!" she voiced over the crowd, "Seeing how everyone is out here and it's going to be awhile before we can all go back inside."

Almost everyone turns to glare at Romeo who merely glares back.

"I never gave off any indications whatsoever that I was homosexual", was his defense, "You guys need to stop jumping to conclusion. I was seven years old for crying out loud!"

"That's what I try to tell them!" Max screamed out.

"Sorry Max and everyone else who knew I was straight. Smelly Flames do not discriminate", Romeo said as he looked over at the dragon-slayers who were still having a coughing fit due to their enhance sense of smell but Erza continued to speak anyways.

Romeo walks over to them and starts patting both Natsu and Wendy on the back while apologizing.

"I'm especially sorry for you guys due to the fact you guys have a stronger sense of smell then most people." he said only to see Gajeel glaring at him while he still was coughing.

"Don't expect me to say 'I'm sorry' to you too. These two didn't think I was gay!"

"Doesn't mean you should have stink bomb the whole building!" Gajeel argued.

"Says the guy who put giant metal rods through the last Fairy Tail building", Romeo fires back as he walks away, not seeing Gajeel flip him the bird.

"So anyways as you can see, due to the…difficultly that we had last night with Velveno I have proposed to Master Makarov that everyone who went to the S-Class Exams will participate in training regiments that will helps us get back up to new standards. Both Mira and I, as well as Master Makarov will be overseeing the training" Erza finished as Romeo got back over to the rest of the group.

Max rests his hand to ask a question.

"Yes, Max?" Erza says.

"Even if you didn't go to the exams, can you still be in the training program?"

"Of course, all at Fairy Tail are welcome, except for those who went to Tenrou, attendance is mandatory."

A chorus of groans and complains filled the air.

"Unless of course, you believe you can defeat me or Mira right here and now." Erza said as she brandishes a sword and Mira change into her demon form.

Suddenly all that could be heard was the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

"That's what I figured. Training starts next week, so you all better be prepared!"

"Erza, if I may suggest something?" Mira asks.

"Yes, what is it?" The sword master responded.

"Might I suggest that Wendy sits this training program out?" she asks catching everyone attention including the Sky Dragon Slayer herself, who along with Gajeel and Natsu, had finally recovered from the smelly flames.

"May I ask why? We might need her healing magic later on" Erza points out causing everyone to think " _Might need?!"_

"You see that's precisely the point. Seeing how the methods in this training program might be a little… unorthodox, Wendy will just end up using all of her time and magic healing everyone. She'll probably get better at healing people but she won't get any stronger in a fight."

"Hmm you may have a point there", Erza mulls over Mira's words, "What are you suggesting she do then?"

"Well seeing how according to her guild profile sheet, she's technically over the age limit of the Marvell Doctrine, therefore she can go on jobs on her own, even high-risk ones seeing how she is kind of twenty years old", Mira started to explain.

"Indeed she is", Erza agreed.

"And seeing how she and Romeo, from what I heard, made such an effective pair last night, pulling off two Unison Raids and defeating an extremely dangerous criminal…"

"That's also true."

"How about we have her and Romeo go on jobs together to strengthen their teamwork?" Mira suggested.

"Actually that's a pretty good idea, Mira", Master Makarov interjected, "and Romeo would have a veteran with him while not feeling like he was being babysat on jobs. Wendy also gets a chance to interact with more people within her age group. But first I feel we should see what those two think about this."

"Romeo! Wendy! Could you come here for a moment?" Mira calls out to them as she waves the two young teenagers over.

Once both of them are standing in front of Master Makarov he pitches the idea to them.

"Well Mira has a point", Romeo started to say, "If Wendy stays here and trains, she would be spending most of her time healing everyone up. And I always wanted to do tougher jobs than walking a dog or digging up a garden."

"I wouldn't mind forming a team with Romeo. It might actually be fun." Wendy adds.

"I have my qualms about this", Carla objected, "Romeo is much too-"

"Wendy is twenty years old, dear. She can make her own decisions", Mira shot her down before she could finish before turning back to the two, "Alright then it's decided! From here on out you two will be known as Team RoWen!"

"RoWen?" both Romeo and Wendy repeated.

"It's a combination of your two names put together", Mira explained.

"Oh, okay", Romeo shrugs before Master Makarov starting speaking to the entire guild.

"Everyone listen up! Three days from now, I'll be taking a trip to Margaret Town to see Lamia Scale!" he announced.

"Why are you going to Lamia Scale?" Freed asked.

"To personally thank Master Ooba for all the support she and her guild have shown Fairy Tail over the years. It's all thanks to her and Blue Pegasus that Fairy Tail survived these past seven years, so I feel a mere letter would not be able to convey my appreciation!"

"Hey, can I come along, master? I've always wanted to see what Lyon's guild looked like", Gray answered.

"Juvia-chan will follow her Gray-sama where ever he may go!" the Water Mage declared.

"I like to come as well, if that's okay", Wendy says.

"Of course you all can. Alright, if there nothing else, I believe the guild is fine now. Let's head back inside and start the day!" Master Makarov declared.

As the rest of the guilds heads back inside, Romeo stays behind to think some things over.

" _Me on a team with Wendy, huh? Wonder how that's going to go. Oh well, I'm sure Chelia will be interested in the news when I tell her about it in a few days."_

He began walking back to the guild hall when he noticed that the Sorcerer Weekly magazine was still lying on the ground next to the door, the cover with Arashi about to kiss Chelia, facing upward.

"I'm surprised no one picked it up", Romeo told himself, "But then again they probably all heard about the press conference afterward. Oh well, time to take out the trash." He closed his eyes and channeled his magic throughout his body until he felt a familiar feeling.

Romeo began to activate his Dragon Slayer magic as his eyes became slits and scales started to appear around them. He then picked the article up and threw it in the air with all he had before taking a deep breath.

" **Fire Dragon Roar!"** echoed throughout the forest as the flame engulfed the magazine and turned it to ash before it could even hit the ground. As he walked back inside the guild his eyes turned back to normal and the scales faded away.

_"I'm getting faster at that, huh."_

**The Next Day in the Magnolia Gardens**

"I could have sworn I said that I wanted to do tougher jobs than this", Romeo complained as he and Wendy were digging weeds out of the town gardens. Carla, Happy, and Pantherlily went to visit the Exceed village so they would be gone for the rest of the day.

"Master Makarov wants us to do a couple simple jobs together in town in order to lay the foundation for our future teamwork", Wendy grunted as she felled on her butt after pulling out a particular tough weed.

"There must have been better jobs for us to do then this", Romeo says as he leans her a hand and helps pulled her up, "I mean, we defeat a four million jewels bounty criminal. I thought for sure that would automatic get us higher paying work."

"There are not a lot of jobs available in Magnolia, we were lucky to get that Velveno job", Wendy pointed out, "By the way, how did Chelia love her gift?"

Romeo's lips split into a wide grin as he remembers exactly how much Chelia appreciated his gift.

"Oh trust me, she-", Romeo started to say until he remembered who he was talking to, "Y-Yeah she liked it."

"Oh", Wendy simply says as she stares at him blankly, "Okay."

Romeo was about to comment on Wendy's sudden behavior when a voice caught both of their attention.

"Well, lookie here. A couple of fairies digging in the mud like the scum they are!"

As Wendy turns to see who said that, Romeo is groaning and putting his fingers against his temple in aggravation.

"Ah, gods damn it. I'm not in the mood for this today", he whispers to himself as he turns around and is greeted by a smug-looking Lindsay standing on the other side of the fence that the gardens were encased in.

"You know, it was such a lovely day until you showed up", Romeo commented.

"Romeo, who's she?" Wendy asked.

"That's Lindsay Mine, Wakaba's daughter. I believe you met her a couple of times before Tenrou."

" _That's the girl Mira wanted to hook Romeo up with?"_ Wendy thought.

"You know it's funny, I thought you wouldn't be able to take a job like this, Conbolt. What with you being a coward when it comes to crowds and all", Lindsay said.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's a slow day today and the gardens are located on the edge of town, so there are not a lot of people today. Though to be fair, coming to that conclusion might be too much for your brain to handle", Romeo said as he went back to work on pulling out weeds.

"Oooo that was such a sick burn, Romeo", Lindsay said in a tone thick with sarcasm.

"About as sick as the burns I gave you last time we fought", Romeo said without turning around.

He hears the gate of the gardens fence being slammed open and heavy foot stomps coming towards him.

" _She's the one who started this too",_ Romeo thought as a hand grabs his shoulder and spins him around.

"You want to say that again, crybaby?" Lindsay threatens him.

"I'm pretty sure you heard me loud and clear." Romeo tells her.

"You're asking for another fight."

"And you're asking for another loss."

Wendy, from her experience of watching Natsu and Gray fight, could tell that things were about to spin out of control and that there was no Erza around to stop it. She had to do something before someone possibly got hurt.

"Hey, Romeo I think there some more weeds over there in the corner that we miss. Could you go and get them please?" she asked hoping that the job would divert Romeo's attention and luckily it does as he turns around and walks away from the glaring Lindsay after a few tense moments.

"Alright, I'll get them", he simply says as he walks away.

"Hey Lindsay, do you want to stay and give us a hand? We can split the reward with you if you help", Wendy says only to get a bewildered look from Lindsay.

"Me, help you? Don't make me laugh!", Lindsay scoffs, "I got better things to do then hang around you and Mr. Crybaby here, whose mother probably ran off with some random guy like the whore she was!"

It was less than half a second later that the gardens erupted in flames as the sheer force behind Romeo activating his Dragon Slayer magic at full force in an instant sends Lindsay flying back a couple yards. While she landed hard on the ground, Wendy was able to brace herself at the last second thanks to her dragon instincts. Before either of the girls could react, Romeo was standing in front of Lindsay with an Iron Fist in each hand with a nasty snarl on his scaly face and was glaring down at her through slitted eyes. The flames around him turned all of the flowers under him to ash as he spoke.

"You want to say that again, Lindsay? I didn't quite hear you."

Lindsay was too terrified to move at the moment. She heard from her father that Romeo knew Dragon-Slayer magic but even in their fight, he never used it and now she was glad he didn't. She wouldn't have stood a chance against him.

But luckily for Lindsay, Wendy decided to intervene.

"Romeo, this isn't what Fairy Tail members do", she simply said as she put herself between Romeo and Lindsay with her hands outstretch. It seemed this simple gesture got through to Romeo as his eyes widen in shock and he instantly deactivated his Dragon Slayer Magic. As he looked away in shamed, he said in a low voice.

"Get out of here Lindsay, now."

Lindsay takes off sprinting away from the two teenage Dragon-Slayers without sparing them a second glance. When she was finally out of sight, Romeo drops to the ground.

"I'm sorry you saw me like that Wendy. Usually comments like that don't get to me", he told her.

"She did go a little out of line, talking about your mother like that. I remember Mira telling me about her. She was a dancer, right?" Wendy said as she took a sit down next to him

"From what I remember, she and my dad divorced when I was only three. I haven't seen or heard from her since. Whenever I ask my dad where she was at, he simply told me he didn't know. After a while I just stopped caring", Romeo admitted.

 _"Actually I just gave up hope",_ he thought as he turned to Wendy.

"Thanks Wendy. You stop me from doing something I know I was going to regret. Lindsay and I may not be on the best of terms anymore thanks to her joining Twilight Ogre, but she was my closest friend after Tenrou happen and before I met Chelia."

"Anytime Romeo, you did protect me the other night when Velveno try to attack me while I was healing Gray. So I guess we're even", Wendy said as her face erupted into a smile. Romeo found himself breathless for a moment upon seeing her do that.

" _Wow, it's been so long that I forgot how pretty Wendy looks when she smiles. Wait a minute where did that come from?"_

Romeo lightly slaps both sides of his face to focus and jumps up to see the damage to the garden he caused.

"Oh man how much money do you think we will lose from damages?"

"I think we will owe them money at this point Romeo-kun." He just slumps his shoulders before kicking the dirt. "Stupid Lindsay…" He murmurs under his breath as Wendy giggles at his reaction.

**Two Day later**

It took the rest of the money Romeo had left over from the dance mission to pay for the damages done to the gardens after his little…outburst. It also took some convincing on his part for him to still be allowed to go to Margaret town.

But now here they were, the eight of them, (Carla decided to come along too and where she goes Happy follows), traveling down the road after they got off the train that stopped just outside Margaret Town. Luckily for Romeo the guild was on the outskirts of town so the group didn't have to travel through the city to get to it. While walking along Master Makarov decided to ask Romeo a question.

"Romeo, did Chelia liked the necklace you got her?"

"Oh yeah, she _really_ loved it", Romeo said off-handed.

"Well did you guys have a fun time at the concert?" Makarov asked.

"Don't remember the concert too much, we were too busy making out in her room", Romeo said only to realize his mistake a second later as he stops in his tracks and face palm himself.

"Oh did you now?" Macao teased, "You left that small detail out when you told me about the concert!"

"My, my, such a little romantic aren't you?" Gray joined in.

"Little Romeo has gotten bold over the years" Juvia commented while Master Makarov and Happy simply laughs. Carla crosses her arms and mumbles something along the lines of "pervert" while Wendy simply stays quiet.

As they walk up to the guild hall of Lamia Scale they spotted Jura coming out of the main entrance, who spots them as well.

"Ah Makarov-sama! I was informed of your visit. I was hoping to come meet you at the train station!" He greeted.

"Our train arrived sooner than expected, but we're here now. Is Master Ooba in?" Makarov asked.

"Yes, she is in her office waiting for you", Jura replied before he looks over at Romeo, "And I see that you brought Romeo as well, splendid! Chelia is practicing her dance moves out in the banquet building. Luckily almost all of our members are out on jobs right now and won't be back till later. Only Team Lyon and I are present and the guild has stepped up its policy about reporters being on our property without permission so you shouldn't be bothered."

"Thanks Jura", and with that Romeo takes off past the towering Rock Mage and into the building.

"I must say Master Makarov and Master Conbolt, whatever that boy did the other night has Chelia in a most exuberating mood! I have not seen her this energetic in quite some time! She couldn't wait for him to show up!" Jura comments before laughing.

"The boy takes after his old man", Macao boasted.

As Romeo gets closer to the room where Chelia was practicing he starts to hear music and the sound of another voice other than Chelia.

"Now Chelia, you're a bit slow on the upturn and you need to do one less spin in order to sing your solo in time", the feminine voice instructs Chelia, though in the back of Romeo's mind he swears he heard that voice somewhere before.

As he opens the door and enters, he sees Chelia standing there, drench in sweat while wearing a pink and black leotard but still looking peppy nonetheless, he also noticed that she had the necklace place on a table nearby along with the rest of her stuff.

" _Guess a necklace like that would get in the way of her dancing",_ Romeo thought as he glances over at the other occupant in the room. He spots a lady in her early to mid thirties with long dark purple hair and a slender, yet muscular tone body with tan skin. Her head was turned to away from Romeo while she was working on a musical lacrima but he could easily see that she had a curvaceous figure that was not hidden by her orange bikini top and her matching orange skirt. She wore two red stripes on either arm and both of her ankles. Then he noticed the flower wreath that was lying next to the music lacrima, " _That's definitely what I saw the other night."_

Romeo snaps himself out of his trance and decides to worry about that later.

"Hey Chelia!" he calls out as he walked into the room, catching the God-Slayer attention, who smiles with joy.

"My little firefly! You finally made it!" she asked.

"Our train arrived early."

"That's great! Hey this is my choreographer! The one I told you about other the day! She been instructing me for about a year and a half-"

" _CRASH!"_

The loud echoing sound of broken magic glass quickly draws Romeo's attention back toward the woman who now standing there with her hands over her mouth and tears welling in her violet eyes. The musical lacrima lay scattered throughout the floor completely forgotten.

But Romeo wasn't paying any mind to that, he was too busy looking into the eyes, which for some reason looked awfully familiar.

"Do-Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked hesitantly with his head tilted. His heart beat started to pick up but he didn't know why.

"I-It can't be", is the woman tearful response.

Suddenly Macao came running down the hall follow by Master Makarov and Sherry.

"Hey Romeo, is everyone okay? We heard something shattered from this direction-" Macao says as he runs up to Romeo, look in the direction of Chelia and the woman and stops in his tracks. Then his face slowly started to change into an expression Romeo has never seen before in his life. It was one of…bitter anger.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the lady in a tone so cold that Romeo was sure that not even Natsu's flames could melt it.

"Macao", the lady replied after composing herself a little.

"Dad, do you know her?" Romeo asked.

"Romeo", Macao starts to talk without taking his glare off the woman, "I would like you to meet Enno Conbolt, or whatever she goes by nowadays. She's your mother."

As Romeo's eyes go wide from this new piece of information, he does the only rational thing one could do in this type of situation.

"No…no…there's no way." He nervously laughs as he starts stepping away.

"Romeo, honey wait." She stretched out her arm towards him to calm him down.

"My mom wouldn't have left me and said nothing for eleven years." Romeo's pupils narrowed and his hands started shaking.

"Baby…"

" _That voice…"_

" **NO!** " Romeo slammed his hands over his ears before running away and out of Lamia Scale.

He ran so fast that there were no shadows under his feet.

Romeo didn't have a plan he just…

Listened to his body

And it screamed

_**Run.** _


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

**Her Reason Why**

Romeo was resting in the forests around Margaret Town, catching his breath and trying to wrap his mind around what he just heard.

" _She's been in Crocus this entire time? That's a half a day train ride away at the most! Also, she's Chelia's choreographer! The gods must be playing some sort of sick joke on me_!" he thought as tears started to well up.

" _Eleven years! Eleven years she been gone and I haven't received so much as a letter or a postcard! Was I the reason she left? Was it something I did_?!"

The snapping of a tree branch shakes Romeo out of his self-pity. On instinct, Romeo summons flames around both of his hands, his tears of sadness temporarily becoming tears of anger. In the forests of Magnolia, Romeo has had his share of run-ins with creatures trying to sneak up on him, thinking he was easy prey. Now he didn't really know what animals inhabited these woods but he wasn't in the mood for this crap and he was going to make them regret trying to make a meal out of him.

As he sees a figure appear from out of the trees, he sends a fireball flying their way. But it is easily dodged and Romeo was ready to kick himself as he realizes he just sent a fireball at his girlfriend.

"Chelia I'm sorry-" Romeo was glad he didn't hurt her but before he could fully apologize Chelia was there in front of him looking down at the ground while rubbing her hand up and down her arm. "I'm sorry. I-I should have known or figured out that she was your mom and told you." Her voice was quiet but it pounded in his ears.

"Hey. You know what? You didn't have to do anything Chelia." He sniffed away his tears before getting closer to her. "You know; it's not like I'm still three years old you know? It's not like I'm going to be staying up every night asking my dad: When's mommy coming home? You know? Who needs her?"

Romeo turned his back to her but kept talking as if no one was there. "She wasn't there to teach me how to do fire magic but I learned, didn't I? I got pretty damn good at it didn't I Chelia?" His voice picked up by the end and started walking back up to her.

"Yes, you did."

"I went through my first day of school without her, right? I learned how to read without her. I learned how to use the train without her. I learned how to use fire magic without her." He used his fingers to count as Chelia only nodded in support.

"I had ELEVEN-" He started to angrily point his finger at her before turning around and walking a short distance away "-great birthdays without her! She never sent me a damn card!"

"TO HELL WITH HER!" His cry scattered the birds sitting on the tree tops and the left the two standing in silence. Romeo's breath was ragged and shaky as he fought back a new rush of tears. Chelia stayed silent but continued to be there for him, standing there.

"I didn't need her then; I don't need her now." He charged right past Chelia fully intending to tell Enno to just leave him again.

"Romeo wait." Chelia never used his actual name unless it was serious but even that only stopped him for a moment. Romeo turned around and got really close to her but he didn't stop talking.

"You know what Chelia? I'm going to learn all the fire magic that I can without her. I'm going to become an S rank mage without her!" Romeo voice echoes throughout the forest.

"And I sure as hell don't need her for that because there ain't a damn thing she could ever teach me about how to love my kids!" Romeo yelled out again as Chelia continued to stand there while taking it all in. His anger soon slipped into deep sadness as his breath quickened and shortened. He started choking out his last few words…

"Why… didn't she want me? Why?" He looked into her sky blue eyes through his quickly blurring olive eyes for an answer. It felt like an enormous weight had fallen on his throat and his body lightly shook from his quiet cries.

Chelia quickly crossed the distance between them and wrapped him into a tight hug. Romeo dug his face into her shoulder and continued to sob. She felt his body shake from time to time as he let it all out. She didn't know how much time had passed but it didn't matter. She would always be there for him.

"Sorry…I really am a crybaby." He slowly broke away from the hug and rubbed his eyes with his arm. "It's okay Romeo." He turned his head away from her in shame but a gloved hand lightly turned his face back towards her. "I told you right? I will always be there to heal you because…" His mind raced back to that moment on the harbor, at the time it seemed so silly what she said back then but he remembered her words exactly.

"Of love." He finished her sentence before he leaned in and kissed her. The two continued to kiss under the morning light as the forest around them seemed to brighten at the sight of young love. The two took a moment to break away and Chelia took that as a chance to talk.

"I'm sorry I didn't know your mom was my dance choreographer. Enno never talked about having a family other than the fact she used to be married."

Chelia instantly regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. Romeo wasn't as hurt as before but the reality was like a blunt pain in his gut.

"Great, so she doesn't even mention me in conversation", he mumbles.

"Romeo, please don't act like this", Chelia begged.

"Then how am I supposed to act in a situation like this? I figure this isn't the first time she came to Margaret Town, is it?!" Romeo erupted, starting his rant up again. He wasn't going to cry again. That time had passed, now it was time for answers.

"It's not."

"Margaret Town is the same distance from the capital as Magnolia is, if not a little further! You mean to tell me that she can travel half a day to come see someone she known only for a year and a half at best, but she can't travel the same distance to see her own son?! What kind of mother does that?!" Romeo's voice started to pick up again and the panic was coming back, "Was it because of me? Was I the reason she left?"

"This is all too much for me to handle right now. I'm just going to leave and go back to Magnolia-" Romeo stopped talking when he felt Chelia's hands rest on his shoulders.

"I lost both my mom and dad when I was young", Chelia started to say in a soft voice; "They were killed by the demon Deliora. For a while, Sherry was the only who could take care of me until she left with Lyon to try and kill Deliora. I spent the next three years moving around from orphanage to orphanage until Sherry finally found me again. She tearfully apologized for abandoning me all those years ago and even to this day she deeply regrets it. I think it's the reason she fiercely protective of me as you found out after we started dating, she trying to make up for her mistake."

Romeo slightly chuckles at the memory which told Chelia that he was slowly starting to calm down if only a little.

"I used to get so jealous whenever I saw kids being happy with both of their parents or even one of them. Not going to lie, it was one of the things that I hated about you at first", Chelia admitted.

"Really?" Romeo asked, "Me and my dad?"

"I thought I gotten over that phase in my life by then, but seeing how you and your dad interactive with one another just gave me another reason to hate you. But that's in the past now", Chelia finished up and takes her hands off of Romeo.

"Romeo, I'm not going to stand here and tell you that you need to forgive your mother, that's a decision you have to make on your own. But I believe you should at least go back to the guild hall and hear her out, see what her side of the story is."

Romeo lies down on the ground for a moment before speaking.

"Can it wait for a bit? I'm still trying to get over the shock."

"Sure thing", Chelia says as she starts to move away to give him some time alone but then she feels Romeo's hand grab her. As she looks back down at him she sees that he looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"Think you could stay here for a while with me?" Romeo almost begged, "I really don't think I should be alone right now."

Chelia smiles at this and lies back down next to him, once again wrapping her arms around him.

"Sure thing, my little firefly", Chelia said before realizing that Romeo hasn't gotten mad at her in a while for calling him that.

" _I say that's an improvement if anything."_

Off in the distance, Wendy smiles to herself as she watches the two. Both of them ran after Romeo together after he bolted out of the guild hall. Using her enhanced sense of smell, she was able to point Chelia to the general location to where Romeo was and decided to let Chelia go alone to talk to him. As she starts to walk back to the Lamia Scale guild she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the two of them as they lay right next to each other.

"Hope Romeo-kun will feel better by the time he comes back to the guild hall. Because by the way his parents were arguing, it would probably be for the best that he's not in a depressing mood when he does come back."

An entire minute would pass before Wendy realizes that she been staring at them the whole time. As she regains her thoughts and starts walking away, she vaguely wondered why she was doing that.

**Lamia Scale Guild Hall after Romeo flees.**

" **No!** " Romeo screams as he bolts out of the room.

"Romeo, wait!" Enno screams as she tries to take off after him but is blocked by Macao.

"I think the last thing Romeo needs right now is his mother", he tells her.

"Get out of my way Macao! I need to-" Enno yells.

"Go see your son? The same son you had eleven years to come see and yet you didn't?" Macao questioned in a tone that causes her to shrink back from him.

"I have sent letters, pictures, even his guild profile sheet when he became an active member to your mother and she sent them to you, and yet you never so much as send back a postcard!", Macao screamed.

"I send you money every month for child support through my mother!" Enno argued.

"Oh yes, that's what the boy needed. Money, because that could easily replace his mother", Macao laughed.

The sharp laughter snaps Chelia out of her shock of finding out that her choreographer was also her boyfriend mother as she shakes her head and takes off after Romeo as Enno and Macao continued to bicker.

"You know why I left!" Enno argues.

"Yes, because you finally had enough money from all the jobs you did to open up your very own dance studio. You made that perfectly clear when we divorced. But we also agreed that you would come and visit", Macao countered.

"Well, I wanted to take Romeo with me!"

"And what? Have him constantly moving from place to place? Tell me, how long was it before you settled down in Crocus? How long were you moving from place to place?"

Enno looked down at the floor, unable to meet Macao's eyes, "Six years."

"So Romeo would have been moving from place to place for almost half his life? That would have been great stability for him. Your mother even told me that a couple of times you went beyond the borders of Ishgar while pursuing your dreams."

"I admit I did travel to Alakitasia and the lands beyond the Pergrande Kingdom a couple times over the years."

"I rest my case", Macao said as he crossed his arms.

Before Enno could continue the argument, Master Makarov decided to step in.

"I believe whatever disagreements you have with another should wait until you're behind closed doors and after we see to Romeo." The master suggested as he looks towards Enno, "It's good to see you again child. I have always wondered how you were doing over the years. Fairy Tail has been different without your marvelous dancing."

Enno smiles at the Master Makarov's kind words while Macao simply scoffs. At that moment Wendy walks in with Gray and Juvia.

"Oi everyone!" Gray yells catching everyone's attention, "Wendy here says that Romeo is okay and that Chelia is calming him down at the moment. They'll be back soon."

"Thank goodness", Sherry breathes out a sigh of relief to which Master Makarov simply nods in agreement, "Then I guess we'll wait for him to come back. Macao, can I speak with you for a moment?"

Makarov and Macao step off to the side while Gray stares at the woman across the way that looked vaguely familiar. This doesn't go unnoticed by Juvia who starts plotting the woman untimely demise.

"E-Enno?" The Ice mage asks.

"Gray?" Enno asked back, "Wow, this is something. I'm used to not seeing you with clothes on."

"Gray-sama! What does she mean by this?! Are you having an affair behind Juvia-chan back with this woman?!" The water mage wailed catching Enno off-guard.

"Is-is she your girlfriend?" Enno asks while backing up slightly away from the hysterical girl.

"It's complicated", Gray groans as he tries to calm Juvia down, "Juvia, this is Enno. She's Romeo mother and she was a member of Fairy Tail back when I first started out."

Juvia stops mid-wailing and stares at Enno and back to Gray, "Oh."

" _Fairy Tail has only gotten weirder since I left, not that it was normal to begin with_ ", Enno thought while looking down at Wendy who started to fidget from the sudden attention.

"Excuse me, Wendy was it?" Enno asked.

"Y-Yes?" Wendy replied, wondering why she was so embarrassed around this lady.

"Just wondering why Chelia is out there comforting my son when you're his girlfriend?" The woman asked.

Wendy's face glows bright red within a second of Enno asking her that questions. Gray and Juvia could see literal steam coming out of her ears.

"G-G-girlfriend?!" Wendy stutters out before putting her face in her hands while shaking her head.

Gray gives a chuckle at the sight before speaking, "Wendy isn't Romeo's girlfriend. She's just his friend and teammate."

Wendy doesn't know why but for some reason she got an odd feeling that she never felt before, swell up in her chest when Gray said the words "just his friend and teammate".

"Really?" Enno asked.

"Why would you think Wendy was Romeo's girlfriend?" Juvia ask.

Enno walks over to her purse and pulls out a newspaper article which showed pictures of Wendy and Romeo performing both of their Unison Raids attacks against Velveno at the dance mission. The headlines read:

_**TWO YOUNG MAGES OF FAIRY TAIL DEFEAT INFAMOUS DARK MAGE "GUILD HUNTER" VELVENO** _

_**ROMEO CONBOLT AND WENDY MARVELL PULLED OFF TWO UNISON RAIDS AGAINST THE THIEF TO DEFEAT HIS AND PREVENTED HIM FROM STEALING THE BALSMICO'S FAMILY RING** _

"Huh, didn't know that there was someone taking pictures while we were there. But it makes sense when you think about it, a guy like Count Balsamico would want photographers there to capture such a tremendous moment like his daughter finally getting engaged."

"Juvia-chan thinks so as well."

"Anyways, I thought because they were using Unison Raids that they were a couple. Last time I checked a Unison Raid requires a great amount of trust between the people doing them", Enno explained, "So I figure the girl in the picture was someone very close to Romeo."

"Well Enno you would be wrong because Chelia is Romeo's girlfriend", Sherry steps in, curious about the conversation ever since she overheard Enno thinking that Wendy was Romeo's girlfriend.

"R-Really?" Enno was surprised by this new information.

"And yet here you were trying to hook her up with Arashi", Sherry pointed out.

"I didn't know! Chelia kept saying she didn't have a boyfriend!" Enno quickly defends herself.

"Yes, there was a reason for that, she didn't want the media to barge in Romeo's personal life seeing how the boy has severe social anxiety and the attention would be bad for him", Sherry explained as she takes the newspaper out of Enno's hand and looks at it.

"HE HAS WHAT?!" Enno voice boomed throughout the hall, surprising everyone in it, "Macao never told me about any of this in the letters he sends to me!"

"Would it have made a difference? Would it have made you stop whatever you were doing and come back and see him?" Macao yells from across the room.

"I still should have known!" Enno yells back.

"Then you should have dropped by every once and awhile!" Macao argued.

"ENOUGH!" A new voice boomed as everyone turns to see Master Ooba standing there alongside Jura with a scowl on her face, "You kids are making too much noise in my guild! Unless you want me to spin you around until I get dizzy I suggest you brats keep it down and talk like reasonable adults!"

"Master Ooba, forgive us for the noise, but we seem to run into a bit of a problem", Master Makarov started to explain to her.

"I know I could hear you all from my office", as she looks around the room, "Where are Chelia and the boy?"

"Romeo ran off and Chelia went after him. Hopefully, they'll be back soon", Makarov told her.

"Good. When they come back I want him, his father, and his mother to use my office to talk in. They're going to need some privacy for this", Ooba commanded.

"I'm not letting him anywhere near that-" Macao started to complain before he suddenly spinning around in midair, "Whoa!"

"This is neither for you or Enno's benefit, it is for the boy!" Ooba said as she twirled her finger around while looking back to the group, "Are there more objections to this?"

When no one said anything, Master Ooba merely nodded her head, "Good. Now until the boy and Chelia come back you will all behave like civilized adults."

And with that Ooba stop spinning her finger and Macao fell on the ground, struggling to hold the contents of his stomach down.

**One Hour Later**

While Makarov, Ooba, and Macao continued their discussion off to the side and Enno caught up with Gray, though she was still nervous about the inevitable confrontation with her son. Sherry was sitting off in the corner reading the newspaper she got off Enno.

" _Romeo mentioned at the concert that he had to use two Unison Raids on Velveno to defeat him, but I figure he did it with Natsu or one of the others. I didn't think he did them with Wendy. I see nothing wrong with it", she thought as she glances over at Wendy who talking with Enno, Gray, and Juvia, "Gray said they're just friends, nothing more. But I can't help but wonder how Chelia going to take this if she doesn't already know_."

At that moment Chelia comes leading a nervous looking Romeo by the hand. Enno cautiously walks over to talk to him but is intercept by Master Ooba of all people who appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm pretty sure I was clear when I said that you three would be using my office for this discussion", she spoke as she looked Enno up and down, "And get some less revealing clothes dear. No one should be dress like that in the present of their son."

Enno looks down at herself. While she normally only worn these clothes when she was giving dancing instructions due to the freedom of movement they give, Master Ooba had a point. The last thing she needed right now is her son who she hasn't seen in eleven years to be awkwardly looking away from her because she has so much of her body exposed. Feeling a bit shameful at the moment she subconsciously started to use her arms to cover herself up when suddenly she feels a jacket fall on her shoulders. She turns around to see Macao standing there with his arms cross and an irritating look on his face as he placed his jacket on her.

"The sooner you get covered up the sooner we can have this discussion", he simply grumbled as he starts to walk toward Master Ooba's office. Master Makarov comes over to speak with Enno and Romeo.

"Now Romeo, no one is forcing you to go into that office but we do feel that it would be for the best if you did", Makarov told him. Romeo remains silence for a moment as Enno, Master Makarov, and Chelia looked on with worried looks on their faces. After a moment he spoke.

"No, I'll go. I got some questions I want answered", He let go of Chelia's hand and walked forward without looking at Enno.

"Enno, dear", Master Makarov turns his attention toward the dancer mage, "I and Ooba have discussed with Macao and he agreed to let you tell your side of the story to Romeo without adding in his two cents. He'll still be in there, but he won't say anything unless he asked a question."

Enno lets out a sigh of relief, "Thank you. This is already going to be hard enough without Macao contradicting everything I say."

Enno starts to head toward the office but stops and looks back at Chelia.

"Sorry about trying to hook you up with Arashi", Enno apologizes, "If I had known he was going to try something like that, I would never have taught him. He just seemed so interested in you and he said that you like him too, but you were too shy to say anything."

Chelia laughs out loud out this notion, "Me? Shy around him? Yeah right! It's okay though Enno. Let just try to keep things from getting awkward between us from now on."

"Oh things are going to be awkward, I can promise you that", Enno mumbles as she walks toward Master Ooba's office. She finds the woman herself standing outside the door with a stern look on her face as she looks up at Enno.

"Both of them are in there waiting for you, but be warned, child. Like I told the father, any shouting that isn't done by the boy will be met harshly by me. The child the only one who has a right to shout in this situation for it seems both of you had been keeping secrets from him. Do you understand?"

Enno nods her head and prepares to go inside.

" _I didn't think a day like this would come_ ", she thought to herself, " _Here goes nothing_."

And she opens the door and steps inside to start what would no doubt be the most uncomfortable conversation she ever had.

**Master Ooba's Office**

Master Ooba's office was actually comfier than most people would think. With three comfortable couches lay out in front of oak wooden medium-size desk, most people would feel at ease talking to Lamia Scale guild master. Her bookshelves were decorated with awards, letters of appreciation, and GMG trophies the guild had won over the years as well as a multitude of pictures from across the century.

But none of that mattered at the moment as the three occupants in the room all sat there in awkward silence. Macao was in the corner leaning on the wall with his arms cross and eyes closed. Romeo fidgets on the couch as Enno just stood in front of the closed door. It was a little ironic how this was the first time in eleven years all three of them have been in the same room and yet no one was happy, especially Macao. Romeo was a mixture of nervousness, a little joy, and awkwardness while Enno just felt out of place.

The minutes' tick by as the trio continued to remain silent until…

"Hurry up and have your extremely emotional and extremely awkward talk! I got work to do in there!" Master Ooba yelled from the other side of the door causing Enno to jump in fright.

"Master Ooba!" Jura voice echoed, "Please leave them to their private talks! We can discuss business with Master Makarov!"

"Alright, alright", Romeo could hear Ooba grumbled, "Kids these days are so fickle with their emotions these days."

The footsteps slowly fade away leaving the family once again in silence.

"So, how have you been…mom?" Romeo softly spoke in a clumsy attempt to get the conversation started because frankly, he didn't know what to say in this type of situation.

Enno's mouth hangs open as she struggles to find an answer for what would seem a simple question in any other scenario. But before she could speak…

"She has been running a dance studio in Crocus for the past five years", Macao says from his corner in the room causing Enno to throw him a glare.

"What? You weren't talking so I decided to help move things along", he told her as he shrugged.

Enno was about respond when….

"Is that true? You've been living out in Crocus for the past five years?" her son asked.

Enno turns see Romeo staring straight at her with a curious look in his eyes. Enno wanted to look away, heck she wanted to run away. She wanted nothing more than to leave this room, tell Chelia she quits at being her dance instructor, close down her studio and move far, far away from Fiore so she never has to face this type of situation again.

But a part of her kept telling her that she needs to buck up and face the music. She was here, her son was here and he wanted, no…he deserved some answers. Answers that only she could give, but damn if this wasn't the hardest thing she ever had to do, even harder than bringing Romeo into this world.

"Yes, it's true", she finally answered.

"Was that you at the concert the other night in Haragon? The one who ran away from me." Romeo suddenly started asking.

This caught Macao's attention because like the make-out session between him and Chelia, Romeo didn't tell him this part either. He glances over at his ex-wife to see her reaction.

Enno's eyes were widening in shock because she was not expecting Romeo to ask a question like that. To be fair she didn't know what kinds of questions Romeo was going to ask but she certainly wasn't expecting that one. She honestly thought she hid her face well enough that he wouldn't see her.

"That's also…true", she finally admitted.

"Why did you run from me?" Romeo asked as small tears started to well up in his eyes again.

"I was afraid, to tell you the truth," Enno told him.

"AFRAID OF WHAT?!", Romeo suddenly shouted catching both Enno and Macao off-guard and causing Chelia, who heard it from the main hall, to go rushing to the guild master office before being stop by Sherry.

"This is something they as a family must down on their own", Sherry told her.

"But-"Chelia tries to argue.

"No buts. The boy needs to do this without you being there, understood?" Master Ooba chimed in.

"Yes Master Ooba", Chelia complied as she lowers her head in defeat.

"The boy is stronger than he looks, he'll make it through this. Though it anyone guess how this will affect him down the line", Sherry added, "Besides, we have some other matters we have to discuss."

Back at the Conbolt's estrange family reunion; Macao and Enno were still staring at Romeo in disbelief as their son was taking heavy breaths.

"Let me try that again. What exactly were you afraid of?" he asked, this time in a more calming voice, though it didn't make the question any easier for Enno.

"I was afraid of seeing you. I haven't seen you in eleven years and then all of a sudden, you were just standing right in front of me", Enno answered.

"How did you even know what I looked like? I could have been just a random purple-haired kid."

"I sent pictures to her mother, Grandma Siva, in Crocus and she relayed them to her over the years", Macao speaks up from his corner, "She would then give me information on her whereabouts even though I didn't ask for it."

"You told me you didn't know where she was at!" Romeo accuses his father while fixing him with a glare.

"I didn't until your grandma told me", Macao replied.

"So other than the fact the Grandma Siva was keeping secrets from me, you lied to me as well?!" Romeo screamed.

"I didn't lie, I just chose not to inform you", was Macao defense, "Mail travels slowly, even with magic. By the time your grandma told me, your mother could have been in another country by then for all I know."

"So why didn't you tell me anything at all? Something, no matter how small and insignificant, would have been nice!" Romeo yelled as he jumps over the couch and is looking up at his father, anger etched all over his face, "She was my mother, I deserved the right to know where she was at! For gods' sakes, she been living in Crocus for five years!"

"Tell me Romeo", Macao starting to speak in a soft voice, "What would have been better for you? For me to simply tell you I didn't know where your mother was or to tell you that she lived half a day train ride away for five years but yet she never came to see you. Hell from what you said she was over in Haragon the other night but I doubt she had plans to come see you. Am I right, Enno?"

**Back in the Main Guild Hall (Lamia Scale)**

Chelia's mind was a mess at the moment. From finding out Enno was Romeo mom, to almost bursting down Master Ooba's door upon hearing Romeo shouts to now reading the newspaper that Sherry handed her that had pictures of Romeo and Wendy performing Unison Raids against that Velveno fellow. From what Yuka told her about Unison Raids, they're basically the personal attacks of the two people using it. No two mages Unison Raids are the alike either. If you took a fire mage and pair them with a water mage, the Unison Raid would be different then if you were to take the same fire mage and pair them with a different water mage. It's the personal bond of the mages that determine how powerful the attack is as well. The deeper the bond, the more powerful the attack.

Chelia and Romeo have tried to pull off a Unison Raid in the past but to no avail.

" _Is our bond not deep enough? Sure, we've only been dating for half a year but I like to think we made some progress in our relationship_ ", Chelia tells herself.

"You're over thinking this", Sherry tells her as she watches her read through the paper, "It could just be because both of them were using Dragon-Slayer magic to attack with. With you having God-Slayer magic, maybe you're just not compatible with him."

"I guess that could be the reason. Our magic just too different", Chelia agrees through she still has some lingering doubt, "I just wish he would've told me about this."

"He probably thought it wasn't important. I mean, he said himself he got over the crush he used to have on Wendy a long time ago, so you have nothing to worry about", Sherry tried to reassure her.

"If you knew I was going to be worry about it, then why did you show me this paper?" Chelia asked.

"It's better you find out now through me than through someone else without getting the full story first. You know how jealous you can be", Sherry pointed out.

"I do not get jealous!" Chelia said.

"Oh really? What about the time you caught Romeo at staring at my chest? You didn't talk to the boy for a week, even after he try calling you nonstop to apologize."

"Maybe if you covered up a little more that wouldn't have happened", Chelia complained.

Sherry looks Chelia up and down, taking in her outfit as the leotard clung to her body, showing off her developing figure., " _That's the pot calling the kettle black, she curvier than I was at her age. If Romeo and Chelia are still dating a few years from now, the boy might have problems keeping his hormones in check."_

**Back to the Conbolts**

"Romeo, you have to understand why I left", Enno tried to explain herself.

"What's there to understand? You were afraid to see me. That's why you ran away from me in Haragon." Romeo sadly chuckled as he looked away from her.

"I was only afraid because I didn't know what to do", Enno said causing Romeo to turn his head back around.

"Romeo, I always wanted to be a dancer. To have my very own dance studio in the capital itself, to be so renowned and famous that even the Royal Family would invite me to perform for them in the halls of Mercuricus, it was all I dream while I was growing up on the streets of Crocus. Your grandma and I grew up in the slums, barely scraping by. What magic and other skills I learned had to be bought through sweat, blood, tears, and on the kindness of our neighbors. When I was finally old enough to strike out on my own and join a guild I chose Fairy Tail for I thought that it would be a great place to raise money for me to accomplish my goals. It was in the process of being one of the top guilds in Fiore and had a lot of jobs available to it."

Romeo was intently paying attention to his mother's story because this was the first time ever hearing anything about her that he didn't already know.

"While I was there, I made some friends, I felled in love, and eventually I married. It all happen so fast that I almost forgot about my dream of dancing, the very reason I joined a guild in the first place. Before I knew it I was pregnant and when you came into the world, I was overjoyed but in the deepest reaches of my mind I couldn't help but think that any chance of achieving my dream was now gone, there was no way I could just leave, not when I had a son."

Enno takes a deep breath as she moves over to sit on the couch across from Romeo, "At least that's what I told myself back then."

Romeo takes a deep breath as he thinks about what he just heard.

"So you're saying I wasn't expected?", Romeo asked.

"You weren't planned, if that's what you're trying to get at", Macao says as he moved off the wall to go sit on the third and final couch in the room that was between his son and ex-wife, "Not saying it was a bad thing, we just weren't expecting a child so soon into our marriage."

Romeo shoots a cold look at his dad before looking back toward Enno, "Please go on."

"As time passed the relationship between your father and me began to strain. Arguments, him coming home late reeking of booze, him caring more about the guild than his own family. Finally, after I was at my wits end, a thought occurred to me: If he didn't seem to care about his family, why should I? Why should I have to put my dreams on hold while he was out and about having the time of his life? I should have stopped that train of thought right then and there, but it festered. It festered and grew until finally, a little while after you turn three, I couldn't take anymore and I filed for divorce", Enno explained as she kept her eyes on the floor, while Macao took a deep breath.

"Of course, your father tried to change my mind. He promised to change, to start taking better care of you and me, to take fewer jobs, but my mind was made up and I wasn't hearing any of that. I just took it as him saying whatever he could to make me stay so he wouldn't have to all the responsibilities of raising a child alone dumped on him. I offered to take you with me, but your father, in a rare moment, said that you moving from place to place wouldn't give you the stability that you would have needed at such a young age, so it was agreed upon that I would visit you occasionally and when I finally found a place we would split custody, with you spending half a year with me and the rest of the year with your father. Three months later after we had that talk, the papers were signed and I was walking out of the door with you chasing behind me screaming, asking me where I was going, begging me to come back", Enno said as tears started to show in her eyes.

It took a moment but eventually Enno continued on.

"I cried for a week after that, thinking I made a terrible mistake, but I assured myself it was for the best and when I finally settled down, everything would be alright between you and me but things didn't turn out the way I had hope."

"Maybe we ought to stop here for now", Macao try to interject but was instantly shot down by his own son.

"No, I want to hear this", Romeo demanded without taking his eyes off his mother, "I need to hear this." Enno hesitated for a moment and fought back her own tears as she spoke about her own life…without him.

"I always knew opening up my own dance studio would be hard; I just didn't know how hard it would be. Even with all the money I saved up while at Fairy Tail, I still needed a bank loan to get everything set up. No bank in Fiore would approve me, so I travel aboard in hopes that another country bank would. It took seven years of traveling the world but finally I found a bank in the land of Sin that approved my loan. I came back to Crocus, bought everything I needed and within a year I was open for business. At first, business was slow, only a few people attended my classes, and it was starting to get hard to make my payments until about a year and a half ago when a certain pink-haired girl walked into the studio. She was just starting out in the music business and needed a choreographer who would work for cheap."

Romeo cracks a faint smile at this, knowing first-hand that Chelia has a way of changing people lives.

"I took her as a student and the offer to be her personal dance instructor later on once her fame started to rise. Before I knew it, word got out that Chelia Blendy was taking dancing classes at my studio and soon I was running out of room to host all my sessions. I took on more instructors, expanded the building, and soon I was running one of the top ten dancing studios on the continent with singers and performers from all over coming to me for lessons…and then two months ago I received a letter."

The room with eerily quiet as the moments ticked on by…

"I received a letter with your picture in it. Not the first one I received from your father, but this one had something in it…your guild profile picture. As I looked at it, I suddenly felt like I was slapped across the face. When I last saw you in the flesh you a little boy who had a hard time even pronouncing the word "magic" and yet now you were a full-fledged mage at Fairy Tail, like I once was. And then it hit me, I forgot all about the promises I made that I would come visited you and once I settled down that I would split custody with you. I ignored the letters your father sent to me, pleading that I come see you." She couldn't hold back her tears as they slowly leaked out.

"I didn't even write a letter back because I was too caught up in achieving my dream. The letter that came with the picture was from your father saying how if my dream was so important to me than I shouldn't even bother ever coming back to Magnolia because apparently my own son didn't matter to me and I was no better than he was when we were married. And once again I cried, cried for all the lost moments, I would never have with you. And then Haragon happen, and there you were standing no more than fifty feet from me and yet I couldn't find the courage to face you after being out of your life for eleven years. Even Mrs. Mine was a better mother figure to you at this point from what the letters I read said. So I ran and once again you were chasing after me as I refuse to look back at you as I left you behind.", Enno told Romeo as now the tears were falling freely from her eyes, "And now we're here." The silence was deafening.

"Chelia said you told her once that you used to be married but you never mention anything to her about having a child.", Romeo stated, "Why is that?"

…

….

…..

"Romeo", is all Enno could say.

"That's it, I'm leaving", Romeo simply said as he got up and headed for the door.

"Romeo! Please wait!" Enno pleaded as she got up to go after him.

"What? You want me to tell you every part of my life that you've missed?! We don't have a time machine and besides you don't deserve to be a part of my life back then."

"B-But-"

"No! Dreams are important, trust me I know! I want to be a fire mage that will make Natsu-nii proud and help Fairy Tail return to glory", Romeo says as he looks back at his mom with bloodshot eyes, "Going after your dream was important to you, even if it meant leaving me behind!"

Romeo turns his back on her as his hand reaches for the doorknob.

"I truly hope that you achieve the last part of your dream and perform in front of the Royal family mom, because they seem to be the only family you care about."

With that, Romeo opens the door and bolts out the room. Enno makes a move to follow him only to be stop by Macao's voice.

"You should leave him be, you'll only make it worse if you follow after him", he said as he got up and walked out the room.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Enno asked as she tries to wipe away the tears, "Insult me? Tell me how I'm a poor excuse for a mother?"

"Nothing I could say now could possibly hurt you more than what Romeo just said", Macao simply told her as he took back his jacket and walked out the room, leaving a sobbing Enno in his wake.

Romeo and Macao decided to head back to Magnolia early seeing how it would probably be for the best if Romeo just went home. Chelia desperately wanted to come along with him but Macao explains to her that he just need time alone. As both the Conbolt men left for the train station, Master Ooba went to her office where Enno was huddle up on the couch, crying quietly.

"I figure it didn't go so well, did it child?" Ooba asked.

When she received no answer she simply strolled over to the bookshelf and pulled a picture off it. She then goes and props herself up next to Enno and shows her the picture.

"Those are my five kids and my seven grandchildren" She starts talking as Enno rubs her eyes and glances over at the frame, "The majority of them live around Margaret town, but a couple of them actually lives in Haragon. I go see them at least twice a month, pushing aside important meetings with fellow guild masters and even the Magic Council itself to do so. A lot of ignorant people out there like to think that once a woman has a child, her life is on hold for all that matters is that child. That isn't true; in fact, it couldn't be any further from the truth. One must simply find a way to compromise between the two, between their family and what they themselves want. Of course, sacrifices will be made along the way, though. There has to be to show how much you value something."

Ooba then goes to the window behind her desk and motions Enno to follow her. As both women looked across the way, they see Romeo and Macao walking toward the train station.

"The boy is only fourteen Enno; you still have time to be an important figure in his life, it's not too late for you to be a mother. But you have to ask yourself, what's more important? Your dreams or your family?" Ooba asks her, "But if you want my personal opinion on the matter, any dream that you're chasing that causes you to abandon your family and friends wasn't a dream worth chasing in the first place."

As Enno stands by the window and watches Romeo and Macao walk away from the guild, Ooba words played in her head over and over.

"Do you have a communication lacrima, Master Ooba? I have to make a few calls."

**Magnolia, one week later**

Romeo was walking up the trail that led to the guild hall, his mind still deep in thought. These last past few days had been rough on him. He avoided conversation with his dad because he wasn't off the hook with all the secrets he kept from him so it has been pretty quiet at his house. He only talked to Chelia twice and that was over the communication lacrima so he could tell her that he was still alive. Him and Wendy haven't been on any jobs since he got back, and on top of everything else, at the guild hall he just sat in a corner all day, keeping to himself really only talking to Wendy and Natsu at best.

"Maybe I was better off not knowing where my mom was", he tells himself, "Because now I can't stop thinking about her. Maybe I ought of take a job to Crocus as a cover and visit this dance studio of hers. Without dad being there I might be able to get more answers out of her."

Romeo then stops walking before taking a deep breath...

"I should also try to bring Chelia along with me. I been avoiding her lately because of something that's not even her fault", Romeo admits before once again strolling to the guild.

He sits down at the door entrance, deep in thought as he still tries to wrap his head around everything that has happen in the past week.

"Dad lied to me, Grandma lied to me, I wondered what others secrets they're keeping from me. Next thing you know they're going to tell me I was born in the middle of a fire or something", Romeo tells himself as he nods off for the third day in a world outside the guild hall due to the lack of sleep he been getting at home.

"Romeo? Romeooo?" he hears a little while later as he opens his eyes to find them staring into the brown eyes of Wendy.

Romeo looks toward the sun and saw that the sun has barely moved since he got to the guild.

"Why are you here so early if you don't mind me asking?" he says to the Sky Dragon-Slayer.

"Kinana said that you show up before anyone else every morning", Wendy answered as she sat down next to him, "I thought I come and keep you company."

Romeo looks around and notices that a certain white exceed was nowhere to be seen.

"So where's Carla?"

"Happy and Pantherlily went with her to visit the Exceed village earlier to morning."

"Huh", was all Romeo says before looking up at the sky and watched the cloud go by.

The two young teenagers then proceed to sit in awkward silence for ten minutes, occasionally glancing at one another before looking away.

" _We been out on a few minor jobs together, so why do I feel weird sitting alone with him?"_ Wendy thought, " _I didn't think this all the way through when I decided to show up early."_

" _This is strange. Just the two of us…here…alone…with no one else around",_ Romeo thought while trying to figure out a way to break the silence between him and the girl he used to have a crush on seven years ago. Fortunately for him, Wendy decided to break it first.

"So how are things with your mom?"

Unfortunately for her, she asked the wrong question at the wrong time. She realizes this when Romeo snapped his head toward her with an incredulous look on his face.

"I mean! You! How?! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry." Wendy apologize as she got up to leave, "I'll be going n-"

"Did you ever know who your real mother was?"

Wendy stops in mid-stride and slowly turns around to look at Romeo who was looking back at her.

"I'm sorry, say that again Romeo."

"Did you ever know who your real mother or even your father was?" Romeo asked again, "Natsu-nii once told me that the only parental figure in his life was Igneel and Gajeel never mentions anything about his."

Wendy turns around and walks back to the guild hall entrance and once again sat down next to Romeo.

"Then I guess all three of us have more in common than just losing our dragons", Wendy started to say, "Because I can't remember anyone before Grandeeney."

"So you never once questioned what happen to your human parents?"

"I did from time to time but it was never more than some passing thought. I had Grandeeney and that was all that matter. Though once I was old enough and she had already disappeared, me and Carla looked around for about a month for some clues", Wendy explained.

"Did you find anything?" Romeo questioned.

"Not a single clue."

"That sucks. I mean I at least had a picture of my mom", Romeo stated.

The two descend in silence once again, though it was more comfortable this time around.

"Hey Romeo"

"Yes Wendy?"

"I think you should forgive your mother for not being in your life", Wendy said.

"That's a tall order", Romeo states, "She was out of my life for more than a decade."

"I realize that Romeo, but holding a grudge about it doesn't help anyone, especially you", Wendy informed him.

"Will you forgive Grandeeney for disappearing on you when you finally find her?" Romeo asked.

"Of course I will", Wendy answers without hesitation, "I know she would never abandon me if it wasn't for a good reason."

Romeo stares at Wendy for a moment before scooting forward and laying down on the ground, looking up at the sky as he thought about what Wendy just said.

" _It's easy for her to forgive Grandeeney; she was actually raised by her. My mother left when I was barely three years old."_

"You know one of the things I love most about Fairy Tail?" Wendy said as she lay alongside Romeo and watches the clouds roll by, "It's how even if someone had wrong them in the past, they will still move pass that and become friends with them. Just take Juvia and Gajeel for example, along with Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen. Fairy Tail truly believes that everyone deserves a second chance and I hope that you can find it in your heart give your mom a second chance. In case you haven't noticed Romeo, you're one of the few people in the guild who even still has a mother. I pretty sure people like Gray, Cana, Elfman, Mira, Lisanna, and Lucy would love to be in your shoes right now, knowing that both their parents are alive and well."

Romeo turns his head toward Wendy, remembering how all the people she mentioned were once enemies of the guild and how they were easily forgiven. He also thought about how a good majority of the guild are in fact orphans whose parents either died or disappear from their lives when they were still young.

"I'll think about giving my mom a second chance, but that's for another time. I got something I want to ask you", Romeo says as he gets up and lends Wendy a hand to help her up, "Would you like to go out on a job with me?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

**Clash**

Wendy and Romeo were searching through the board, looking for any job that didn't require them to pick thru a garden. One of the reasons was because they were sick of picking weeds out and the other reason was because Romeo was temporarily banned from the city gardens.

"How about exploring the cave where the towns folks claim they been hearing strange noises from?" Romeo suggested.

"Sound pretty cliché. Like straight out of a story that the author had run out of ideas cliché", **(A/N: I was not running out of ideas!)** Wendy said as she points at a flyer in the upper right corner, "How about this:

**_ Mages required to teach at magic school in Tyure _ **

**_ Reward: 49000 jewels _ **

**_ Would like mages to be of one of the five main elemental types. _ **

"Huh, almost fifty thousand jewels to teach a bunch of kids. I think we could do that. With your wind magic and my fire magic we fit the criteria", Romeo said as he grabs the flyer and hands it to Wendy, "Go get Mira to approve it while I give Chelia a call and see if she wants to join us."

This catches Wendy's full attention as she stops mid-grabbing the paper out of Romeo's hand.

"Chelia?"

"Yeah, I kind of been ignoring her lately and I want to make it up to her by seeing if she wants to come along on this job. It's in Tyure City, which is the same distance from here and Margaret Town so she can meet us there." Romeo tells Wendy as he walks over to the bar where Kinana was stocking the shelves. As Wendy is left standing there with the flyer in her hands she can't help but wondered why she feels a little down at the prospect of Chelia joining her and Romeo on their mission.

" _It's the same feeling I got when Gray told Romeo's mom that we're just friends and teammates_."

Romeo walks up to the bar and asks Kinana once again for the communication lacrima and decides to take his conversation with her outside, this time, seeing how there wasn't really any place in the guild hall that was private at the moment. Apparently everyone decided not to go out on jobs today for some reasons.

" _It could be the training Erza and Mira have been putting them through",_ Romeo thought as he walked to the doors.

Once he in the forests surrounding the hall he calls up Chelia.

"I swear to the gods if this is another call about Arashi and me, I'll send you flying to Bosco", Chelia threatens as her face appears on the globe.

"Well at least you've mellowed out send the first time I call you after the concert", Romeo joked with a light hearted smile.

"Well someone is looking better today. I'm happy to see that you aren't looking depressed like the last few times you call", Chelia says.

"Yeah I feel a little bit better now. I figure moping around isn't going to help anything", Romeo tells her, "Anyways, I was wondering if you're free at the moment."

"Why? Planning on taking me out on a date my little firefly?" Chelia purred causing the tips of Romeo's ears to turn red.

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a job with me."

"A job? Where?" Chelia asked.

"Tyure City. It's about the same distance from you as it is for me", Romeo explained, "It's teaching some school kids about magic. I was planning on meeting you there."

Chelia thinks about this for a moment before sighing.

"As much as I would love to go out on a job with you Romeo, I'm a little overwhelm right now. Master Ooba wants me to start training for the Grand Magic Games in three months but in order to do that I have to get all of my concerts, interviews, photo shoots, rehearsals, and dance lessons out of the way first", Chelia tells her boyfriend.

"Speaking of dance lessons", Romeo interjects, "Have you heard anything about….my mother?"

Chelia stares at Romeo for a moment before pinching the brim of her nose.

"Nothing has change since you ask me a few days ago. I can only get in contact with her assistants who tell me she still wants to be my choreographer, but she just wants some time to herself", Chelia explains to Romeo.

"I see", he says in a sullen tone.

"Romeo, please don't be sad. I'm sure things will work out", Chelia pleads.

"I'm fine, really. I just wish I could get my head around everything that has happened."

"You sure you're going to be okay on this job?" Chelia asked.

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine. Wendy will keep me company", Romeo says nonchalantly.

….

….

Chelia once again is staring at Romeo through the orb, blinking rapidly every few seconds.

"I'm sorry Romeo, I think I didn't hear you right. Who's going to keep you company on the job?" Chelia asked knowing full well what she heard but she felt the need to verify it.

"Wendy", Romeo repeats, "This is a team mission for the both of us."

"Oh, you form a team with Wendy, did you? You know it's funny how I didn't know about this until just now", Chelia said through a forced smile.

"Really? Could have sworn I told you about this. Anyway yeah, me and Wendy formed a team a few days before I came to see you", Romeo says, completely missing the fact that Chelia was struggling to keep her emotions in check.

 _"Take deep breaths Chelia. You're just over thinking things",_ she tells herself.

"So you two have been a …. team for almost two weeks now", Chelia said.

Romeo thinks the math over in his head for a moment, "Yeah, I guess we have. We form the day after your concert. Anyway, this is our biggest job yet. In fact, Mira named us Team RoWen for some reason."

Chelia takes a deep breath and holds it in for a bit before letting it out slowly in an attempt to calm herself.

"Romeo, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can."

"What exactly is the… relationship between you and….?"

Romeo throws Chelia a baffled look, "Between me and who?"

"Between you and…and… Never mind, I have to go! See you later!" as Chelia turns off the lacrima. After which she throws her hands up in the air and slam her forehead on the desk from which she was talking from. Her annoyance only grew upon hearing a certain voice from behind her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. There goes another opportunity to get a straight answer out from him", Sherry chides from her place at the room entrance, "That makes three, one for each call."

"NO ONE ASKED FOR YOUR INPUT!" Chelia hollers out from the desk, her forehead still on its solid wooden surface.

"Okay, but the longer you drag this out the worse it's going to get", Sherry informs her, "But like I said before, you're so jealous."

Chelia didn't even have a retort as she reached into her shirt and pull out a second necklace she had along with the one Romeo gave her that was a golden heart-shaped locket attached by a gold chain. She opens the locket and smiles faintly at the picture inside.

In the picture Romeo was blushing profusely with a bouquet of flowers in his hand while Chelia was overjoyed, engulfing him in a hug and kissing him on the cheek. The reason she was so happy was the fact that the flowers Romeo got for her weren't from a store or ordered. No, he picked them out from the forest himself after seeing how much she liked them during one of their earlier walks. He said he had to search the entire forest around Magnolia just to find that many.

 _"_ Okay, maybe I'm just a little bit jealous that Romeo spending more time with Wendy than he is with me, but what did I except when she's a guild member of Fairy Tail _?"_ Chelia pouts.

"Told you so", Sherry says, not having left the room at all.

"SHUT UP SHERRY! ONCE AGAIN NO ONE ASKED YOU!" The Sky God-Slayer screamed as her cousin walked away laughing.

** Back to Romeo… **

"Okay, that was weird. That's the third time she asks me a question like that only to change her mind", Romeo says as he walks back inside and hands the lacrima back off to Kinana. As he turns to look around for Wendy he spots her walking back over to him from a star-struck Mira.

"What's wrong with Mira?" he asks.

"I don't know", Wendy tells him, "She was just fine until I said that both you and I were going on this job."

Romeo only shrugged.

"Anyways, Chelia said she won't be able to meet up with us in Tyure City, she's too busy with all of her singing business", Romeo says.

"Oh, that's too bad. Guess it's just you and me then Romeo."

"Guess it is", Romeo agreed as he turns around and starting walking toward the door, and for the third time, today completely missed the fact that a girl close to him was having an internal struggle with herself.

 _"Why did I feel sort of happy when Romeo said Chelia wasn't going to be there? She seems like a really nice person, so why do I feel like this? It's almost like I'm glad she's not coming_ ", Wendy tells herself as she goes to catch up with Romeo.

"Oh my gods! This is finally happening! This is finally happening!" Mira squealed as she watches the two of them walk away, "All my hard work is finally going to pay off!"

"Mira, what are you going all about?" Lisanna asks as she comes out of the bathroom.

"Romeo and Wendy just went on a job together!" Mira told her.

"So? They have been doing that for a while now."

"But they're going on a train ride to the job site and Carla won't be with them! Plus, Romeo is still feeling kind of down about the whole Enno thing!" Mira explained.

"Wait…so you're saying?"

"So they'll be alone together for a long period of time and no doubt Wendy going to try and cheer Romeo up! Just Romeo and Wendy and no one else!" Mira finished, "This is exactly what we been waiting for!"

As the two sisters hug another and jump up and down, the middle child decided to ask a question that has been on his mind for quite some time now.

"Mira, why are you so bent on hooking Romeo up with Wendy? He already has a girlfriend and seems quite happy with her. This is not very manly", Elfman stated.

Mira looks over at her younger brother with a look of pity, "Ah Elfman, I wonder if you will ever understand love."

Elfman's eye twitches at the mild insult, "What do you mean? I can clearly see that Romeo and Chelia love one another."

"That's not true love, that's just puppy love", Mira tells him, "While I think Chelia is a sweet girl and I really like her, she and Romeo just aren't meant to be. They're better off as just friends."

"And you base this off of…?"

"The simple fact that they're not open about their relationship", Lisanna jumps in, "While Romeo's condition is the main factor in that, keeping it a secret isn't helping anyone."

"But him being with Wendy is different how?" Elfman asked.

"The fact that he can walk down the road hand in hand with her without having reporters, photographers, and gods forbidden Jason, following them, would no doubt do wonders for the boy", Mira says as walks over to the bar, "Besides Macao told me himself that he's surprised that they made it this far as a couple and Gray said that even Enno thought Wendy was already Romeo's girlfriend. That's basically Wendy getting the seal of approval from the mother before she even met her."

Elfman stares at his only living blood relatives as he tries to soak in everything that has been said.

"Have either one of you asks Wendy how she feels about Romeo? She could just see him as a friend."

"Have you not notice the way she been staring at him ever since she got back from Tenrou? She has a crush on him, I can tell", Lisanna tells her older brother.

Elfman was about to say something else when he suddenly felt a cold chill go down his spine as he slowly turns to see Evergreen glaring at him from across the room. If it wasn't for the fact that her glasses were still on Elfman would have sworn that she was trying to turn him to stone.

" _Oh gods not again_ ", The Take-Over mages thinks as he remembers how Evergreen has been doing this to him ever since the day after the Dance Mission. And it wasn't just in the guild hall either. Sometimes when he is walking around town he would feel that same stare pierce through his very soul as the Fairy mage seem to follow him wherever he went.

It was at that moment that Elfman saw Evergreen get up from her table that she was sharing with Freed and Bickslow and stalk over to his location. As his sisters left him to deal with the powerful mage on his own, Elfman couldn't help but remember that this is all their fault to begin with.

As Evergreen puts her chest into Elfman's and looks up at him with a frozen glare that would put Gray's magic to shame, the next words that spew forth from her mouth shook him to the core.

"We need to talk. Now."

** On Board the Train to Tyure City **

Romeo and Wendy were alone in an empty train car on their way to Tyure. The train ride would take two hours of traveling to get there, but luckily it was a straight shot with no stops or change-overs in between.

As they sat across from one another, Romeo was looking out the window watching the landscape flow by while Wendy was deep in thought, a whole hour went by before either one of them said anything to one another.

"So Romeo?", Wendy asks in an effort to break the silence.

Romeo grunts in response.

"You seem to know a lot about Tyure City. Have you been here before?"

"Nah, Totomaru-sensei mentioned it a lot while talking about a suitable location to open up a branch school. Believe or not, he has one of the highest acclaimed magic schools for youth in the country and has even offered the guys at the guild teaching position had Fairy Tail disbanded.", Romeo explains, "My dad thinks he trying to make up for the Phantom Lord/Fairy Tail war from seven years ago."

"Oh I see", Wendy merely says before once again the train cart becomes quiet.

Romeo watches the blue sky fly by as he thought of a number of things in silence. From daydreaming of Chelia to thinking about if he could actually forgive his mother. Surprisingly enough, the image of Wendy smiling pop into his head.

" _What's that all about?"_ Romeo thought as he shook the image from his mind.

"Hey Romeo", he heard Wendy suddenly say.

"Hmm?" was his response as he continued to watch the landscape.

"How did you and Chelia first meet?"

Romeo glances over at Wendy for a moment, "Didn't she and I already tell you this? We met when she was visiting Fairy Tail during one of Lamia Scale visits."

"You told me that, but you never went into detail. I'm curious on how the first meeting between the two of you went. The way you described it, it almost sounded like you hated one another", Wendy explains.

"Almost?" Romeo laughed, "Trust me, Wendy, there was no almost, we hated each other guts!"

"Why?"

"Well it all started that day almost a year ago…" Romeo drifts off as he goes back to watching the mountains while reminiscing about days gone by…

** Flashback to Chelia's first visit to Fairy Tail (Hey they're back!) **

Chelia had it all. She was one of the top mages in Fiore number two guild Lamia Scale. The #1 pop idol on the continent who records have top the charts for a year now and whose concerts have sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale. She had legions of loyal fans in every country, and she manages to handle it all without any additional stress.

Plus, she was still very down to earth and got along quite well with pretty much everyone. You could say her life was perfect…. except for two things.

One, she couldn't for the life of her seem to get a boyfriend.

No matter how hard she tried to get Lyon's attention he always treated her like a little sister and nothing more, and it irked her to no end.

And two, she hated to be ignored. We're not talking about how not everyone's a fan of her music, she fine with that. No, she's talking about when she is trying to talk to someone and they completely tune her out that ticks her off.

Which made the fact that she was sitting across from Fairy Tail guild master's son and was being rudely ignored in favor of a book was all the more irradiated.

This was her first time ever visiting Fairy Tail and she had to say she wasn't impressed with the once proud number one guild in the country guild hall. It was small and rundown compare to her guild hall, and the membership was laughable. Their strongest member, no doubt their guild master Macao Conbolt's magic was nothing compares to hers, and the job request board was damn near stripped bare. Chelia didn't like to be rude but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why two of the top guilds in Fiore, both hers and Blue Pegasus, went out of their way to help keep this guild open.

Anyways back to her awkwardly sitting across from the boy, whose name was Romeo she believed, as he still refuses to acknowledge her presence.

She didn't even want to talk to him; Sherry had asked her to as a favor in hopes of building up relationships between Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale by having their youngest members' converse with one another. The little girl Asuka was an absolute angel though. The smile on her face when Chelia gave her a free signed copy of her latest album and the fact she got a picture with her made Chelia feel all warm inside as she then watches the girl show it all off to her parents with glee. But this boy, who was only a year younger than her, didn't so much as look up from his book when she sat down.

" _He's not even a active member of Fairy Tail, he's just their guild master's son. Yet him I am, wasting my time trying to "Build up relationships" with him",_ Chelia thought bitterly.

She waited for five whole minutes before trying to get the boy's attention.

"Ahem", she coughed softly, but no reaction.

"Ahem!" this time a little louder but once again nothing.

" _This is going nowhere. If I was out in public I would have guys his age fighting one another for the opportunity for me to even look them_ ", She thought as she coughs one more time.

"AHEM!" this time she practically screams only to hear Yuka and Toby snickering off to the side. As she throws a glare in their direction she hears….

"You'd think that with your Sky God-Slayer healing ability you wouldn't have such a bad cough", Romeo states while flipping to the next page.

Chelia turns back around at him only to see that his eyes still haven't left the book.

"Oh so you can talk", Chelia sneers.

"How very observant of you. But yes I can talk. I just chose to talk to people I like", Romeo replies while still reading.

"And the reason you don't want to talk to me is because?" Chelia questioned.

"Well because it's obvious you don't want to be here if the way you cling to your guild's Ice Mage like a baby clings to a rattler is anything to go off of", Romeo answers while turning another page of his book, though he did not miss the small spike in Chelia's magic after he made that comment.

"Excuse me?" He sighs before speaking.

"It's actually quite funny though, reminds me of Juvia and the way she used to act around Gray", Romeo tells her, knowing full well he should probably stop egging her on but for some reason couldn't. He briefly wondered if this was how Natsu felt around Gray or Gajeel; couldn't help but want to start an argument with someone.

"Were you raised to be this rude to a lady or is it just a phase you're going through?" Chelia asked.

Romeo looks up from his book and surveys the interior of the building, not once locking eyes with Chelia.

"The only ladies I see here are Kinana, Bisca, Laki, Asuka, Jenny, and your cousin though I do wondered about that Eve guy sometimes. And I almost mistaken Lyon for a girl when I first saw him, what with that hair and all.", Romeo states before going back to reading and once again sensing a spike in Chelia's magic, this time a little bit larger. Jura, Macao, and Ichiya felt it as well as they turn their attention from their discussion to the table in the back corner of the hall.

"I think we should intervene", Jura suggested, a little worried for Macao's son well-being as well as the guild hall, "Chelia has been known to have a short temper sometimes."

"I'd rather see where this goes", Macao said, "This is the most he's talked to a girl in months."

"You have a big mouth on you, has anyone ever told you that?" Chelia taunts.

"Having a big mouth is usually associated with a big vocabulary", Romeo responses, "Seeing how you have contributed so little to this conversation, I can only conclude that yours is quite small."

A narrow stream of darken winds knock the book Romeo was reading out of his hands and he slowly looks up to see Chelia sitting there with her index finger extended and a fake smile on her face.

"Oh, it seems I finally got your full attention", she says.

"Oh trust me, you definitely got my full undivided attention now", Romeo almost growls as he stands up and glares at Chelia. Slits started to form in his eyes and scales begin to dust over his face, "But you're going to wish that you hadn't."

** Back to The Present **

"You two had a fight in the guild hall the very first day you met?!" Wendy asks as she jumps out of her seat, "Also Romeo, it sounded like you were a little rude to her."

"One, I was getting to that part if you let me finish. Two, I admit I may have been a little bit of a jerk but she wa-"Romeo starting to say before a feeling of overwhelming yet somehow familiar dread suddenly washed over him, causing him to look toward the window.

" _It's coming from outside_!", he tells himself as he suddenly nearly breaks the window off its handle as he forces it up and sticks his head out the window. As he looks in all directions he activates his dragon-slayer abilities and uses his now enhance senses to detect whoever or whatever was watching him. But even with heighten sight, smell, and hearing, he couldn't find anything.

" _I know what I felt. There was someone here_ ", He thinks to himself before going back into the compartment.

"Romeo, is everything alright?" Wendy asks as soon his head is back through the window.

"Wendy, did you feel another presence a second ago?" Romeo asks.

"No, why?"

"Never mind then. I guess I'm just imagining things", Romeo says as he glances back at the window and sees Tyure City train station coming up, "Anyway, we're here. I'll tell you the rest of the story another time."

** The Outskirts of Tyure City **

"Thank goodness this school is on the edge of town, otherwise, this job would have been difficult", Romeo points out as they near the schoolhouse.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I mean, this is a large classroom we'll be teaching", Wendy says with concern in her voice.

"Oh, I got over being around large groups of little kids while I was still at Totomaru-sensei school. I had to pick Asuka up from pre-school in the past as well. Nowadays I just have trouble with the older crowds." Romeo tells Wendy.

"So your condition is improving then?" Wendy asks.

"My…issue has been improving little by little over the years, remember I've been trying to overcome my anxiety long before I started dating Chelia."

The teenagers were almost to the school house when they spotted a familiar figure walking a bit ahead of them.

"Is that who I think it is?" Wendy says.

"No way that's Laxus", Romeo said apparently loud enough for the Lightning Dragon-Slayer enhance hearing to pick up on as the towering man turn around behind him and saw the two.

"Well this is just great", he mutters as Romeo and Wendy walk up to him.

"Hi Laxus, how have you been?" Wendy ask, completely ignoring the negative aura that the former S-Class mage was emitted, though Romeo felt it well enough as Laxus stared down at them with a scowl on his face.

"W-What brings you here Laxus?" Romeo stutters out while trying to control his fear.

"I'm here on a job", Laxus bluntly told them.

"Well what a coincidence, so are we!" Wendy says, "What job is it?"

"Showing some brats at some school some magic."

Both Wendy and Romeo faces drop upon hearing this, though Wendy quickly recovers.

"This school wouldn't happen to be call; Tyure Third Street Elementary School, would it?" she asked to which Laxus arcs an eyebrow.

"Yes, it is."

"And the person putting the job up wouldn't happen to be named Miss Tyrine, would she?" Romeo asks, dreading the answer.

"It is, why?" Laxus asks.

Romeo shakily hands Laxus the job flyer while the Lightning mage takes out his own and compares the two.

"Did you two just pick this job today?" he asks in a tone that made Romeo want to run for the hills.

"We did, I was the one that picked it out", Wendy confesses as a shy smile appears on her face.

Laxus stands there brewing for a moment before finally speaking…

"Try not to steal the spotlight and this job will go all the more smoothly. Now let's get going, the school just up ahead." he simply says as he hands the flyer back to Wendy and starts walking away. Romeo's jaw hangs open as his mind tries to comprehend what just happen.

"But how? What? But he?", as he looks toward a still smiling Wendy, "How did you do that?!"

"Do what?" she responds.

"Normally when guild members and freelancers pick the same job, nine out of ten it ends up with a fight breaking out between the two parties!" Romeo explains to her while waving his arms up and down, "Laxus could have simply told us to back off and I would have already been at the train station by now!"

"I doubt he would do something as mean as that", Wendy says as she starts to walk away, "I heard all about the Battle for Fairy Tail, but he also helped us out on Tenrou Island, so he can't be all that bad."

Romeo could only look on as Wendy runs to catch up with Laxus and it takes him a while before he starts running after her. He was almost about to catch up with her when all of a sudden a figure steps out from behind a building and Romeo collides into it causing him to stumble backwards.

"I'm sorry-" Time froze and his breath caught in his throat while his eyes dilated as the world breaks apart like shattered glass and rushes past him. While immobile, Romeo saw the ground, the sky, and the trees around him seem to break about to reveal a totally white space. Slowly he exhales and the shards of space itself warp back into place to form a completely new environment.

Romeo watches as the last shard fits underneath his feet to form solid grass that suddenly feels unnaturally real from its glass like state before. His body unfroze and he shakily looks up to find himself standing in a forest the likes of which he has never seen before with a man standing in front of him that he has never seen before.

The elderly-looking man stood about the same height as his father, with a thick beard the covered his neck. He wore what seem like a combination of a hood and a robe vest that match the color of the grass while in his hand he held a wooden staff. The man was pacing back and forth and Romeo could tell that he was outraged about something. His lips moved but no sound seemed to escape them and the hood covered up the upper parts of his face.

" _What is he trying to say_?" Romeo thought before his gut fills with a strange sensation that could only be described as an ominous mixed feeling of familiarity/unfamiliarity.

Romeo moves to get a closer look and finds he can't budge whatsoever; it was like his body became a statue. He notices that the old man's head was now turned in his direction and that he was stomping toward him. But before the man could reach him, darkness engulfs the area and Romeo finds himself staring into pitch darkness.

"Hello?" Romeo calls out, but to no avail, "Is anyone there? Where am I?"

No one answered and the same feeling he had when he was trapped down in the basement seven years ago started to come rushing back.

"I need to stay calm. I'm not seven years old anymore", Romeo tells himself as he summons a fireball to give him some light and to have it at the ready in case he is not alone here. But after a few tries he realizes he couldn't summon any flames at all, he couldn't even activate his dragon-slayer mode.

"What the hell going on?", he asks himself as he is suddenly blinded by a bright bluish orange light that originated from his side a good fifty feet away. He uses his arm to shield his eyes and turns to see a gigantic orb of fire floating in darkness. It was a mixture of blue and orange flames that slowly rotated as if it were alive.

_**"Walk to it."** _

A voice spoke in Romeo's mind and slowly without thinking he walked towards the floating orb of fire. As he approached it no thoughts crossed his mind. When he was right in front of it he didn't feel any heat coming from it instead the orb gave off waves of power that lightly blew his clothes like a breeze.

_**"Reach out. It's yours…it always has been."** _

The voice spoke out again and Romeo followed its directions. He slowly stretched out his right arm in front of the orb and in response the flames flowed down his arm and wrapped around his body as the orb shrunk. The orb completely disappeared but Romeo wasn't left in darkness.

His whole body was covered in blue and orange flames that slowly flowed around him like water, rather than hurt him, they filled him with a new sensation. Romeo stared at his ignited hands and arms in shock.

_**"The world will soon see…that Conbolt Is Fire."** _

Romeo jerked his head up because the voice sounded like it was right in front of him. A sudden blast of wind forced him to close his eyes and shield his face with his arms. The fire covering his body blew out leaving him in complete darkness.

" **Wake up!** " Romeo shoots up all of a sudden from a blow to the head, almost colliding with Wendy on his way up. "See I told you that it would take more than just some wind to wake him up. Maybe he needs another one to set him right." His eyes focus to see Laxus right above him with lightning chop poised to hit him again while Wendy was in front of him with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm up! Gods…what was that?" He whispers under his breath as he places his hand over his heart and looks around to find himself in the same area he was in before bumping into that person. As he looks around he notices that it was only him, Wendy, and disgruntle looking Laxus. Romeo couldn't see spot anyone else.

"Romeo, are you okay?" Wendy asked.

"Where's the other person that was here?" he asks, ignoring Wendy question.

"What other person?" Laxus said.

"The person I bump into! Where are they?"

"Listen brat", Laxus spoke as he towered over Romeo, "When we turned around to see where you were, we only saw you lying here with no one else around."

Before Romeo could answer, the air is rocked by a loud explosion followed by multiple screams that caused all three of them to look toward the center of town.

"Ah great, now what?" Laxus mutters as he takes off in that direction, leaving Romeo and Wendy behind.

"We should go see what going on. People may need our help", Wendy says as she helps Romeo up, "Are you good to go?"

Romeo was trying to pieces together everything that just happen but deep down he knew that he didn't have time for that.

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's get going", he says as both he and Wendy take off down the now deserted streets toward the direction where all the commotion was coming from.

** Town ** ** Square Tyure City **

Romeo and Wendy arrived onto a scene of pure chaos as people were spewed out all over the ground, and a majority of the buildings in the town square were badly damaged. Romeo and Wendy both try to calm their stomachs as they saw that a good number of the people on the ground who were no doubt ever getting up again.

As Romeo examines one of the wounded more closely, he makes a startling discovery.

"These are Rune Knights, the Magic Council soldiers. What are they doing here? There must be dozens of these guys."

"Don't you brats read the paper or watch the news?" Laxus asks as he suddenly appears behind them, "There was a massive jailbreak from the Magic Council's prison three days ago. A good numbers of high-level dark mages escaped. The Rune Knights have been hunting for them ever since."

"If that's true, then why haven't we seen any bounty posters?" Romeo asked.

"The Magic Council obviously doesn't want to pay someone else to fix their mistake. They been officially stating how they have everything under control and that their Rune Knights can easily apprehend the escaped convicts. They also been controlling the media to keep the news of this breakout to a minimum, rarely stating that it has occurred and not even mentioning which convicts escaped.", Laxus explains, "I was hoping they eventually put some bounties out cause I'm short on cash and that the only reason I took this school gig."

"Hey Wendy, think you could heal some of these guys?" Romeo asks to which Wendy nods her head and began treating the closest injure knight.

"You two stay here, I'm going on ahead", Laxus orders and takes off before Romeo even has time to argue.

"You think he was the guild master with the way he ordered us around just now", Romeo grumbles to himself as he starts looking through the rubble, searching for survivors.

" _This is bad. These dark mages must be pretty powerful to mess up this many Rune Knights in such a short amount of time. I wondered if Laxus can handle them all_ ", Romeo thinks to himself as he moves and burns away rubble in order to make a clear path for when help eventually arrives. He also used his fire magic to cauterize bleeding wounds on some of the wounded. While it did cause them pain, it would allow them to live a little bit longer until either Wendy or someone else got to them.

But at the back of his mind, the visions he recently had still plague him.

" _What was all that about? What could it mean_?" Romeo thinks before shaking his head, " _There will be time to worry about that later. For now, people need my help._ "

A little while later he goes to check up on Wendy, who was already healing her eleventh injured soldier.

"Don't overdo it Wendy", Romeo tells her, "You're not going to help anyone if you pass out from overusing your magic."

"I'm fine, really", Wendy replies, "But Romeo, my magic can only do so much. Most of these guys need professional medical attention fast."

"That might be hard to do with dark mages on the loose in the city", Romeo admits, "The sooner Laxus deals with the dark mages, the sooner these guys can get better medical help."

" _Really wish Chelia could have come along though, we could really use a second healer right now_ ", Romeo thought to himself.

"I hope he hurries up then", Wendy confesses as she does all she can for the Rune Knight she was currently healing up and looks for another. She spots one on the other side of the square and starts to move toward him.

Romeo was watching her go when something suddenly caught his eye from atop of nearby roof. The next thing he knows he is sprinting toward Wendy and barely tackles her out of the way in time as a deadly stream of poison hits the very spot was she was a moment ago. Luckily the spray didn't hit either of them as a voice rings throughout the square.

"Well I must say, you're quite fast for a little brat!", a man on top of a voice laughs as he jumps down and lands a couple yards away from the pair, "To think you could outrun my roar is truly something!"

The man was sporting a white coat with a red undershirt and wearing a matching pair of crimson pants. The feature that stuck out the most for Romeo though was that his arms were covered in crimson scales.

"He have use the stench of the bodies to hide his presence", Wendy tells Romeo as she recovers from the sudden impact, "That must be why I didn't notice him."

"No one blaming you Wendy", Romeo assures her.

"Romeo", Wendy tells Romeo in a slightly trembling voice, "That man is someone that we shouldn't fight right now, especially with all the wounded surrounded us."

"You know who he is?" Romeo asks as he and Wendy get up and prepare for a fight.

"His name is Cobra and he's the Poison Dragon-Slayer. Me and Team Natsu face him seven years ago during the whole Nirvana incident when I was part of Cait Shelter. He went toe-to-toe against Natsu and even Erza and held his own. Natsu couldn't even defeat him in hand-to-hand, it took a scream for him to win."

"A scream?" Romeo asks as the two of them back up away from the approaching Cobra.

"If I remember correctly he has highly sensitive hearing, even for a dragon slayer", Wendy answers, "Even then he got right back up and was going to fight Natsu once more before he got shot by his own ally."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Cobra says as he continues walking toward them, "I can hear your every thought as well. Both of you are afraid, as though you should be. What better way to get my revenge on the guild that helped put me in prison then to send them the heads of two of their very own members?"

Cobra launches himself at the two who prepare for his onslaught.

" _Crap, if this guy gave Natsu-nii and Erza trouble, what chance do we have_?" Romeo thinks.

Just as Cobra was almost on top of them, a lightning charge foot collides with his face, sending flying into the nearby town square water fountain.

Romeo and Wendy stare in shock at their savior who began slowly walking toward Cobra, who was pushing rubble off of his body and shaking the water out of his dark red hair.

"Personally I couldn't give two shits about what you do to these brats", Laxus says as electric dances around his body, "But I know for a fact that while the old man can forgive me for a lot of things, but there's no way he would ever forgive me if I allow these two to get hurt while I just stood by and watch."

"Well now, isn't this a surprise?" Cobra chuckles as he stands straight up, "Laxus Dreyar, grandson of Makarov Dreyar and the Lightning Dragon-Slayer. I've heard all about you."

"And I've heard all about you, Cobra, a former member of the disbanded dark guild Oracion Seis, and the Poison Dragon Slayer", Laxus smirked, "I always wondered if I would ever get to face you and see which one of us was the stronger lacrima-infused Dragon-Slayer."

"Well, what do you know? I have had those same thoughts myself ever since I heard about you", Cobra smiles as he readies his claws.

"Well let's stop talking about it and do something about it!" Laxus roars as he throws his jacket off and rushes Cobra with a lightning charge fist at the ready.

Cobra answers this with a poison encase fist of his own and takes off in a sprint toward the oncoming mage.

Both mages get within arm's reach of one another and threw their punches straight into the others. A large explosion rocks the town square once again as the duel between the two Second Generation Dragon-Slayers commenced.

Romeo and Wendy were flung back by the sheer amount of magic that was release upon Cobra and Laxus punches colliding. As poison and lightning flew soar through the sky and landed on top of buildings and the stone streets, it nothing short of a miracle that none of the still breathing Rune Knights were hit by them.

As for Wendy and Romeo, the two of them were flown back into a building, with Romeo hitting the building wall first and Wendy flying back into him afterward.

"Ahhhh!" Romeo yells out as he absorbs most of the impact allowing Wendy to come out of the ordeal relatively unharmed.

Upon them falling to the ground Wendy immediately turns around starts healing Romeo with her magic, focusing on his ribs.

"I'll be fine; you should save your magic for someone who really needs it!" Romeo tells her as he struggles to stand up.

"But you're hurt!" Wendy tries to tell him.

"Like I said, I'll be fine." Romeo repeats as he points toward the Rune Knights lying on the ground, "But I'm more worried that they won't be."

Wendy looks over at the Rune Knights to see that a good number of them are still teetering on the brink of death and the explosion cause by Cobra and Laxus didn't really help matters.

"Laxus' and Cobra's fight is moving them further into the city away from us", Romeo starts to explain as the sounds of battle echoes further down the street from them, "We should use this opportunity to help those still injured while they're away. You start healing all the people you can and I'll start cauterizing their wounds to prevent any further bleeding."

Wendy gives him a nod and begins moving to heal the nearest Rune Knights who was inside of a nearby building while Romeo set about doing his part in closing up the wounds. As he was fixing up the first one, his mind was a jumble mess of thoughts.

" _I sure hope help arrives soon. Most of these guys will be dead unless they get treated. I mean the slashes on these guys are pre-",_ Romeo stops mid-thought as something occurs to him. He quickly moved to the nearest Rune Knight to see if he was right.

"Wait a minute", he tells himself as he takes a closer look at the slash on the Rune Knight's chest, "There's a single slash across this guy's torso, but Cobra has clawed hands and I doubt he struck these guys using one finger. Besides he has poison magic as well."

Romeo looks up and examines the remaining bodies that lay scatter throughout the area. Among the dead and wounded Romeo noticed that while some of them bare the mark of Cobra's poison magic, others didn't. In fact, the remainder had long singular cuts on multiple parts of their bodies. Romeo also noticed that some of the damage buildings were cut clean in some areas.

"Something's not right, that was definitely made by a weapon."

He then noticed that the man that he had been helping a moment ago was struggling to say something.

" _He's the only one to regain consciousness since we got here",_ Romeo thinks, "Hey, are you okay there?"

The man seems to ignore his question and he struggle to say a single word.

"E-Er-Eri"

Suddenly all the hair on the back of his neck stand up and out of the corner of his right eye he catches the sunlight reflecting off something that was coming toward his head.

Using agility that was enhance by Natsu's training, Romeo back flips away and lands a couple yards away from the assailant who appear to be a tall, lightly muscular bare-chested man with silver hair and what seem like a torn hakama that covered his lower body. In his right hand he held a scythe that had giant jagged blade, with a light-colored cutting edge. It was mounted on a gnarled staff, curving lightly before the blade itself.

"You're certainly are quite nimble, aren't you kid?", the man jokes as he twirls the bladed weapon in the air above his head with one head and then points it at Romeo, "I might be able to have a little warm-up with you."

"Death God Erigor of the former Dark Guild Eisenwald", Romeo says as he takes a stance, "Totomaru-sensei told me all about you and how he's the sole reason why you don't have a perfect assassination streak."

The sinister smile that was on Erigor's face soon turn into a snarl as the Wind Mage started giving off a massive aura of killer intent.

"Totomaru-sensei huh? You're a student of that bastard?" he growls.

"Former student, it's a long story", Romeo tells him.

"And this will be a quick end to your life", Erigor snaps as he swings his scythe and a powerful gale comes rushing toward Romeo who leans back in time to have it fly a few inches over his face. He back flips once again to put more ground between him and that scythe.

" _But that doesn't do anything to help me against his wind magic",_ Romeo thought as he suddenly has to jump back to once jump back once again to dodge a one-handed slash for the dark mage.

"Not this time kid", Erigor says and he launches a blast of wind from his free hand, catching Romeo off-guard and sending him tumbling in mid-air.

As he lands on the ground with a heavy thump, Erigor vaults into the air with his scythe held high, determine to end Romeo's life here and now.

"Don't worry kid! I'll send that blue-haired fairy fly to see you in the afterlife real soon!" He yells as he brings the blade down on top of Romeo's head.

CLANG!

The sound of metal hitting metal echoes throughout the empty streets as Romeo is stun to see that a katana has stop the scythe. He was even more stun to see that the man holding the sword was none other than Totomaru-sensei himself with a fierce look on his face.

"First I defeated you, then that foul demon Dragon-Slayer defeated you, and yet you still continue to your fiendish ways", the Rainbow Fire master tells Erigor before parrying the scythe away and aiming a thrust at his face.

Erigor moves his head out of the in time to have the sword go past him and jumps back using his winds to help him land on a roof.

"Ah Totomaru bastard, it has been too long since we last met!"

"I was already prepared for that rematch you promise me as you ran from me with your tail between your legs. I waited and waited, but you never came", Totomaru taunted as he slid his sword back into its sheath.

"Totomaru-sensei, what are you doing here?" Romeo asks as he got himself up off the ground.

"I was scouting the town looking for a good location to open up a branch school for magic teaching when I heard all the commotion ", Totomaru said while never taking his eyes off Erigor.

" _That's right, I told Wendy about that on the train",_ Romeo remembered, " _Wait a minute! Why hasn't Wendy come back yet?! She must have heard the commotion!"_

"Your friend's facing off against the third dark mage who has come to Tyure. You should go provide her with aid", Totomaru says all of a sudden.

"Wendy's fighting?! Where?"

"Down that road", Totomaru pointed behind him, "Now go. Erigor and I have a score to settle."

"That we do you flaming bastard!" Erigor called out, "Tell me, does that scar down your chest still bother you?"

"About as much as those scars on your arms do", Totomaru replied, "Romeo, get going!"

"But what about you?" he asked.

"Romeo", Totomaru says, "I was fighting in life or death situations like this long before you were even born. I think I'll be fine."

Romeo takes one last look at both Erigor and his former teacher before taking off toward Wendy leaving the two weapons master alone as Erigor starts to gather the winds around him and orange flames began to dance around Totomaru.

** Meanwhile… **

_"_ ** _SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!"_** Wendy screams as she sends a sprawling hurricane thru the army of lizardmen that ambushed her a few moments ago while she was trying to heal the wounded Rune Knight she found behind a building. She led the first group of lizardmen that attacked her away from the main road where most of the wounded were, but just when she thought she was a good enough distance to fight them in the town large park, she was ambushed by a second group and their leader, Daphne, herself.

"Well ain't this a surprise!" The woman yelled with a thick country accent from atop of a playground slide, "Never thought I get to see the Sky Dragon-Slayer again, especially after I heard about Tenrou!"

Wendy didn't have time to response as one of the hundred lizardmen, using Loke's Regulus magic, send the spell _**Regulus' Impact**_ at her.

As she jumps into the air to dodge the attack, she sends a _**Sky Dragon's Claw**_ at the lizardman, scoring a direct hit and causing it to dispel and vanish.

Daphne merely snaps her fingers and ten more lizardmen appear out of nowhere in the very spot the last one vanish from.

"Do you like my lizardmen v4.5?" Daphne asked while laughing, "It only took me less than two days to create them and the ability to replicate them at will."

"What are you planning to do?" Wendy questions her as she dodges a sword strike from a lizardman who was using Requip magic to brandish dual swords.

"Why what else would I do now that I'm out of jail?" Daphne laughed before her face took on a darken expression, "I'm going to burn Fairy Tail and Magnolia to the ground, and then I'm going to take your fellow dragon-slayers and use them for my painful experiments."

Daphne claps her hands and a dozen more lizardmen appear in front of her while the rest of them clear a path directly to Wendy.

"But don't worry. Because you didn't have a direct hand in the destruction of my Dragonoid I'll grant you a quick and painless death", the scientist said as she pointed at her, "Minions! Purple Rain!"

The dozens lizardmen summons Purple Flare magic circle in front of them and unleash a barrage of fiery bullets at Wendy.

" _ **Sky Dragon's Roar!",**_ Wendy casts at the onslaught in an attempt to intercept them but since Purple Flare isn't affect by neither water nor wind, the ones that were not in the direct path of her roar kept coming toward her and she didn't have the time to perform another attack.

" _This is bad!"_ is all she had time to think before a figure dashed in front of her.

" _ **Purple Flare Dome!"**_ Romeo slammed his palms together and violet dome of fire formed around the two. The Purple Flare bullet storm battered against the dome but they were only making it stronger as the dome grew outwards engulfing the nearby lizardmen. As they begun to dispel from the damage, Daphne merely tilts her head in the confusion at who this new wizard was.

"I don't know how you know my dad's magic but now I'm seriously pissed off." The dome swirls down revealing a perfectly fine Romeo and Wendy. The woman narrowed her eyes at Romeo before pulling out a snack on a stick and chews on it. "Hmmm…nope I don't see it. I don't remember who I got this magic from. Must have been a nobody huh?" She spoke with her mouth full while continuing to eat her snack.

"A nobody…my dad isn't some nobody." Romeo steps forward in anger with his right hand set ablaze. The army of lizardmen immediately shifts to protect their leader. "HooWhew! You sure are a little firecracker huh?" Daphne claps her hands in mock applause then pulls the empty snack stick out her mouth and tosses it away.

"I'm going to make you eat those words. Wendy! Are you ready?" He looks behind him to see her with her hands balled into fists by her sides. "Of course I am." Romeo slams his fist into his palm and gives Daphne a smirk.

"You messed with the wrong team! If it's a clone fight you want, then it's a clone fight you're going to get!" Several red spell circles appeared on the ground around the two and immediately several fire clones of Romeo appeared with the same smirk on their face as they stared off against the army of lizardmen.

"Humph", she grunts a little, surprise at the sheer number of clones he was able to suddenly create, "I was hoping for the fire bastard who destroyed my marvelous creation, but I guess I'll have to settle for you two for now."

The lizardmen army closes in as the Fairy Tail mages stand side by side.

"Unfortunately my lizardmen still can't seem to copy slayer magic due to its special properties", Daphne explained, "No matter though, against these numbers it wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome."

Daphne snaps her fingers and the hoard advances on the two as Romeo's clones rush towards them in a clash. The two armies fought while Daphne's lizardmen used a variety of magic to destroy Romeo's clones, Romeo's clones just fought to stay alive and get as close as they could to the lizardmen.

"You know what Wendy?" He turned his head towards her and had a smile on his face even though they were in the middle of a fight.

"I'm all fired up!" Romeo turns his head back towards the clashing armies with his smile still in place. He makes a hand sign and the clones who were grappling with lizardmen smirked as their power swelled and their hair began to sizzle with indigo flames.

**"Ignite."**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

**Battlefield**

The streets of central Tyure were desolated and vacated as the two elemental weapons mages square off against one another. As the clashing of metal rang throughout the streets, one could only imagine the history the two mages shared for them to lash out at one another in the matter that they were fighting.

"I see that you're still handy with a sword!", Erigor screamed as he swung his scythe overheard down toward Totomaru, who sidestep out-of-the-way of the curved blade as he charge forward with a thrust aim at the wind mage chest.

Erigor jumps back, grabbing the very edge of the pole-arm of his scythe as he moves out of reach of the Rainbow Fire mage sword. Showing off his years of experience of wielding such a weapon, he turns the blade sideways as he moves backward in an attempt to cut Totomaru in two in the process.

But Totomaru is well familiar with being prepared for anything in a fight, especially one with a formidable foe such as Erigor. Therefore he took no chances with Erigor's scythe wasn't within sight. Flipping backwards a heartbeat before the blade hit, Totomaru was able to catch his reflection on the weapon as it went past him. Totomaru lands on his feet and slides for a bit before implanting his blade in the ground to stop.

"Tell me", Erigor says as he sticks his scythe into a nearby wall and begins to unravel his bandages, "Is that the same blade from all those years ago?"

"The very same; I have not found a need to get a new one", Totomaru answered as he pulls his sword out of the ground; "Especially since this one holds such fond memories."

"And what fond memories they must be", Erigor said as he finally unraveled his bandages to reveal a nasty cut that stretch down the length of his right arm and a disgusting burn scar that covered almost the entire area of his left. Both of them looked faded and neither seem to heal well with time.

"Remember when you gave me these?"

Totomaru began to take off his top in response before speaking, "That I do. It was the same day you gave me this..."

As the Rainbow Fire mage throws his top on the ground, he traces his finger along a jagged stitch-up wound that stretch from the top of his left shoulder down to the outer thigh of his right leg. In comparison to the scars Erigor had, it seems that it healed up quite nicely, though still noticeable.

"It would seem that you did not seek medical attention for your wounds", Totomaru pointed out.

Erigor barks with laughter at this, "For guys like me, scars are badges of honor! We don't all go crawling to a doctor every time we get a little cut on ourselves like you sissy legal guild members!"

"Humph! That way of thinking is going to be your undoing soon enough, Erigor." Totomaru says as he readies his sword, "Though I am curious why you haven't used any of your wind magic so far in this duel. It clearly would have given you the advantage."

"I didn't wait this long for revenge to simply blow you away with magic", Erigor admitted as he looked into the blade of his scythe, "Oh no, I'm going to savor this moment by cutting down, limb by limb. Only then will I be satisfied."

Erigor position his blade high above his head and glare at Totomaru, "Show me how much you have change, Totomaru. Cause when I kill you I at least want to be able to boast that you put up a decent fight."

**Tyure Market Square** **.**

**" LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAR!", echoes throughout the square mere moments before a yellow blast of raw electrical magic tears through the surrounding houses, devastating all in its path, though Cobra himself barely manage to get out-of-the-way in time.**

**"** _Bastard tougher than I thought; he's definitely on a whole different level then that idiot Fire Dragon Slayer_ ** _!",_** **Cobra thought as he lifted himself off the ground and prepare to face off with a** **slowly approaching Laxus with whom the very air around him was alive with electricity.**

**"** _Makes me wonder why he wasn't with Fairy Tail at the whole Nirvana affair",_ **Cobra thought as he readies his claws, "** _We probably would have been defeated from the get go with him there."_

**Laxus continues his slow stroll toward Cobra, looking more bored than anything.**

**"** _Dammit! No matter how hard I try, I can't read his thoughts! What is it with this guy?"_ **Cobra curses, "** _Guess I have to try a different approach."_

" **POISON DRAGON'S TWIN FANGS: MULTI-STRIKE!",** as his arms formed massive amount of poison. Laxus watches on with a raise eyebrow as the poison mass takes on the shape of snake heads and launches them toward him.

"Got ya, you lightning bastard!" Cobra booms as his spell closes in on Laxus.

Without warning, Laxus' starts to shine brightly as his very being turns into lightning itself and he instantly moves away at great speed, vanishing from Cobra's sight, who was still looking ahead in shock as his spell hit the ground where only a second ago Laxus was standing.

" _Where he go?!"_

Cobra barely has time to register the punch that was coming from the side of him before he is send barreling across the market square, landing into a nearby bank with a thundering crash.

And once again Laxus starts walking toward him slowly, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

"You bastard!" Cobra coughs out as he struggles to stand up, using a nearby counter to help him, "Why the hell can't I read hear your thoughts?!"

"You know after I heard about you begin a dragon-slayer, I send a letter to Freed asking him to do some research on you. His main source was no doubt from that flaming idiot and his team seeing how they fought you before and he discovered something interesting while doing so", Laxus explained, "Your sound magic allows you to hear other people thoughts, but seeing how I'm such a straight forward thinker, you can't predict my moves because I'm constantly thinking about just beating you, no fancy moves, no brilliant strategy, just me pounding you into the ground."

Cobra stares back at him agape by what the Lightning Dragon-Slayer just reveal to him. Soon that shock turns to anger as he starts to trembles with rage.

"You mean to tell me that my advantage, the same one that allow me to stand toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful mages in the land, has been countered by the fact that you're just going on pure instinct?!", as he took a deep breath, " **POISON DRAGON'S ROAR!"**

"That's exactly what I'm saying, you idiot", Laxus responds as he takes a breath himself, " **LIGHTNING DRAGON'S ROAR!"**

**Margaret Town**

**The Blendy's Residence**

Chelia flops back onto her bed with an audible groan. No matter how hard she tries to go over the lyrics to her new song her thoughts kept wandering back to what Romeo say two weeks ago.

" _I may have had a crush on her back then."_

Chelia grabs one of her pillows and smothers her face with it, letting out a sigh in the process.

" _It's not like I don't trust him, it's just the fact that I'm way over here while he way over there in Tyure out on a job with her, alone I might add.",_ Chelia thought, " _Maybe I'm reading too much into this Unison Raid thing. Besides Romeo has always told me the truth, even back before we started dating and hated each other guts. He was never one to pull punches when it came to speaking his mind."_

Chelia glazes up at the ceiling as she remembers back to the day she first met Romeo at the Fairy Tail guild hall….

**Flashback.**

" _He's a dragon-slayer?",_ Chelia thought as she was a little taken back by this new bit of information as she watches scales form around Romeo's eyes as he death glare at her, " _Sherry never mention this."_

"It would seem Romeo has gain better control over his new abilities Macao", Jura pointed out as he turned toward the guild master; "I'm still waiting for you to tell me who exactly inserted the lacrima into the boy. It takes a great deal of talent to implant something like that into a person."

Macao looks the Saint Wizard dead in the eye, "I already told you it was a wandering freelancer who we pay to do it."

"Very well then", Jura nods his head, though he still remained skeptical.

As both men draw their attention back to the two slayers in the room that could easily feel the tension between the two despite being on the opposite side of the building.

"Do you still believe we shouldn't intervene?" Jura asks as he glances down at Macao.

"Romeo is smart enough to know not to start a fight", Macao told Jura though he himself was starting to get a little worry with the way both Romeo and Chelia were staring at one another.

And he should as Chelia had stood up as well and was now throwing her own glare at the dragon-slayer.

"So it seems Fairy Tail still has one Dragon-Slayer left. What's the matter, trying to bring your quota back up?" Chelia taunted.

"Well it obvious that having a Saint Wizard wasn't enough for the second best guild in the country so they thought they had to add a god-slayer as well", Romeo responded, noticing Chelia subtle reaction when he said second best.

"Humph, coming from the last place guild on the continent, I'll take that as a compliment", Chelia says while crossing her arms and smirking.

"We may be last place now, but at least we once held the title of number one guild in Fiore. You can keep your second place; it's the highest you're ever going to get", Romeo smirks back.

Chelia takes a deep breath and exhales slowly as she turns her back on Romeo, "I got better things to do than stay here and argue with an idiot."

"Of course you do", Romeo agrees, "You have to go cling on to that Lyon fellow before he gets away."

Chelia does an abrupt three sixty turn and brings her face within inches of Romeo, "What is your problem? I was trying to be nice until you had to become Mr. Attitude problem."

"That was the problem", Romeo tells her while pointing at finger at her, "You were trying to be nice, but anyone with half a brain can tell that you were faking it!"

Chelia is taken aback by the sudden outburst but nonetheless holds her ground.

"And if there is one thing I hate, it's when people fake something, be it kindness or anything."

"He is going to be disappointed if he ever gets married", Wakaba grumbles only to get slap upside the head by Bisca.

"There are three kids in the room who don't need to hear that type of talking", she harshly whispers to him.

"I could pity you if that makes you feel better", Chelia responds.

"That's funny", Romeo chuckled, and "I could say the same about you."

Chelia's eyes widen and her face dons confuse yet surprise expression but just as quickly as it appears it vanishes.

"Excuse me? What did you say?"

"You heard me", Romeo simply stated before deactivated his Dragon-Slayer mode and bended over to pick up his book. His fingertips were barely touching the spine when a slender hand grabs his. He follows the hand upward and finds himself once more staring into the blue eyes of Chelia.

" _She's faster than I thought she was",_ Romeo thinks to himself as he flicks her hand away and stand straight up, "Do you still need something?"

"You didn't answer my question", Chelia said.

"I wasn't planning to", Romeo tells her and it seem like they were about to go back to square one when suddenly a voice breaks their staring contest.

"Are you guys fighting?"

Both Romeo and Chelia snap their heads downward toward the voice to see Asuka looking up at them with an unhappy look on her face.

"What?" Romeo asked.

"Are you guys fighting?" the little girl asks again as tears started to well up in her eyes.

Romeo and Chelia spare one another a quick glance before looking back toward Asuka.

"Of course we're not fighting, we're just having…." Romeo mind races looking for any excuse he could use right now.

"Staring contest", Chelia answers out of nowhere causing Romeo to throw her baffle look.

"Seriously?" he mouths to her to which she merely shrugs.

"You were having a staring contest?" Asuka asks while turning her attention to Romeo.

"Of course we were!" Romeo answers, mentally slapping himself for not coming up with a better answer, "Just a friendly staring contest!"

Asuka's face brighten up, "Can I join too?"

For the second time within the span of a minute little Asuka catches the two slayers off-guard as both of them start to fumble with excuses to why she couldn't join their "contest".

Luckily Alzack decides to step in and give them a hand at this very moment.

"How about you go on play in the forest with Romeo?" he suggested to which Asuka looks up at him with stars in her eyes.

"Can I really?"

"Of course you can and I'm sure Chelia would love to come along as well", Bisca adds in as she comes up next to Alzack and looks at Chelia, "Am I right?"

"Well about that", Chelia started to say before she feels a hand iron grips onto her shoulder. She turns to see Sherry standing there with a somewhat dangerous smile on her face.

"She would love to come along and play with you two in the forest", Sherry says, though to Chelia it sounded more like an order, "She could use the peace and quiet."

Chelia opens her mouth to ask a question only for it to be stop be Sherry putting her finger to her lips, "Just you, Romeo, and Asuka will be going."

Chelia drops her shoulders in defeat as Asuka grabs her hand and leads her out the guild hall, the stars in her eyes shining brightly now at the chance to play with her idol.

Romeo watches them walk for a while before turning to the rest of the remaining guild hall.

"Do I really have to go?"

Everyone, including his dad, Kinana, and Jura snaps their hands up pointing at the retreating figures of Chelia and Asuka while still staring at Romeo.

Romeo lets out a sigh and shakes his head, "Fine, but I take no responsibility for whatever happen out there."

With that Romeo starts walking after Chelia and Asuka, murmuring to himself how he wish he had just stay in bed this morning.

**Back to the Present**

Chelia smiles at the memory as she brings herself back up and goes over the lyrics once more. She is only a few seconds into it when she hears a furious knocking coming from the front door of the house.

" _Who could that be?",_ Chelia thought as she gets up and goes to the living room only to see that Sherry was already answering the door.

As she opens it, both she and Chelia are shocked to see a serious looking Jura standing there along with Lyon.

"What's going on Jura-sama?", Sherry asks.

"Have you been watching the news?", he asks back in solemn tone.

Chelia, curious by what Jura meant, turns on the Lacrima-vision and is instantly shocked by what she see.

_**If you are now tuning in to this broadcast; mayhem has engulf the city of Tyure as an trio of powerful Dark Mages are battling in the streets. We go live now to Jack Stevenson, who is on the scene!** _

Suddenly the lacrima is switch to a man, ducking down behind some debris while reporting.

_**This is Jack Stevenson with Fiore News in Tyure where a number of high-ranking escape convicts from the Magic Council prison are laying siege to the once peaceful city!** _

_**Criminals, Cobra the Poison Dragon-Slayer, Erigor the Reaper and Daphne the Mad Scientist have descend upon Tyure, causing it to fall into pure chaos!** _

_**Rune Knights were in pursue of the dark mages but were thrown into disarray when all three convicts made a stand in the town marketplace, resulting in a large number of wounded and other a dozen fatalities!** _

The screen then switches between the three fights that were going on at that very moment.

_**Now as everyone can see, a number of Mages have confronted the Dark Mages Trio. There's former Fairy Tail's ace Laxus Dreyar, squaring off against Cobra; he seems to have the upper hand in that fight, while Erigor and Totomaru, a former ace of Phantom Lord, seem to be evenly match in their battle.** _

_**But now the real concern is the fact that two young mages of Fairy Tail are going up against Daphne and her lizardmen army on their own.** _

Now both Chelia and Sherry were paying more attention to the news than they already were before, if that was even possible.

" _Didn't Romeo say he had a job in Tyure today?",_ Sherry thought as the broadcast played on and reveal both Romeo and Wendy guild profile pictures.

" _ **Now as some people may remember; both these mages, while young, were instrumental in defeating "Guild Hunter" Velveno awhile ago at Count Balsamico's ball, especially Romeo Conbolt, who used a variety of fire magics, including Fire Dragon-Slayer magic, while Wendy Marvell used Sky-Dragon Slayer magic to perform two Unison Raid against Velveno thus defeating him!"**_

Suddenly a loud explosion rocks the camera as both Jack Stevenson and his assorted Lacrimas are thrown back by the sheer force of it.

" _ **Oh sweet magic gods! It seems that a tremendous force has rocked the battlefield where the Laxus and Cobra are squaring off! I'll try to get one of my lacrima over there to see what going on, but for now another one of my lacrima is on the scene where the two young Fairy Tail mages are fighting and we should be getting a live feed...now!"**_

Hundreds, if not thousands of lizardmen filled the screen all of a sudden as only three figure stood out against the greenish tide.

Daphne stood up top of a playground slide as she survey battle with a confident smirk. Wendy was on one side of the park, dispelling dozens of lizardmen with every Dragon Roar she cast, but it started to prove futile as more just kept reappearing.

But what caught Chelia's attention was the fact that Romeo was struggling to stay alive amidst the horde as his rainbow magic was having little to no effect on the creatures. While he could easy dispatch a couple with his attack, he too was suffering from fighting against the attrition warfare that Daphne had adopted to take out the Fairy Tail Mages.

" _Why isn't he using his Dragon-Slayer magic?",_ Chelia thought before having her thought interrupted by Jura.

"Blue Pegasus is on its way here along with more Fairy Tail mages in its Magic Bomber: Christina; we are to rendezvous with them and head to Tyure to reinforce them! We must hurry though; it's likely believed that more of the escape convicts may be in the area! We have to head to the guild hall now to meet them!", the Wizard Saint explains.

Chelia sped past him and was already halfway to the guild hall before Jura, Lyon, and Sherry could react to the girl sudden burst of speed, "Well what are you three waiting for?!", she calls back to them as she now was using her wind magic to increase her speed.

" _Hang on my little firefly! I'm on my way!",_ Chelia told herself as she saw the guild hall appear in the distance. Though the thought from earlier continued to plague her mind...

" _Why isn't Romeo using his Fire Dragon Slayer magic?"_

**Back in Tyure**

" _Why aren't my Dragon-Slayer abilities activating?",_ Romeo thought to himself as he back-flips and dodges yet another sword slash from a lizardman copying Erza's magic while simultaneously firing off a purple flare fireball that dispel the creatures, but does nothing to stop the tide.

" _Maybe I shouldn't have set off another indigo bomb that size so soon after the first one. I'm already feeling myself get drain",_ Romeo thought as he glimpses over to where his teammate was fighting.

While Wendy was easily holding her own against the large herd of artificial made creatures, Romeo was struggling just to stay alive. Half of his concentration was focus on the fight while the other half was being use to activate his lacrima, but to no avail. If anything, trying to activate his lacrima was causing him pain.

"I can't keep this up for very long", Romeo said as he lifts his leg up in other to avoid a lower sweep performed by another sword wielding lizardman. As the blade goes past, Romeo spins around; planting that foot on the ground and using the momentum to collide his other flame engulf foot into the beast's face, dispelling him on contact.

" _Man, I should have been more convincing in trying to get Chelia to come along with us",_ Romeo thought as he summoned a fiery tiger in an attempt to give himself some breathing room. But unfortunately, because he wasn't able to fully focus on the inferno construct due to him trying to activate his lacrima the tiger only took a few hits before it flicker out.

"Well that's just wonderful" Romeo says as Wendy's unleashes another dragon-roar, clearing the way in front of her.

"I don't think Wendy going to last much longer at this rate", Romeo says before having to jump back to avoid a thrust, "Though she'll no doubt last longer than me and hopefully long enough for Laxus to arrive to help", he states as he back-flips once again, hitting the lizardman square in the jaws his feet while in the process.

" _Seriously, having two Sky Slayers here would have really help matters.",_ Romeo thought as he looked toward Daphne, who looked like she was growing bored with the battle, " _I bet if I take her out the rest of the lizardmen will dispel. Just have to get over-"_ he was thinking before he started to feel the ground shaking underneath him.

"What the-oh my god!", as a lizardman with chains on its arms comes shooting out of the ground, grabbing Romeo by his feet and swinging him around before throwing him into a nearby, already destroyed building on the road.

"Burn it", Daphne commands, "So we can now focus on the real threat", as she looks toward Wendy who was still blowing away lizardmen left and right.

On cue a dozen lizards summon fire magic circle and each unleashes a single fireball onto the house for which Romeo was thrown into. Pretty mere moments the house turns into a raging inferno and Daphne and the remaining lizardmen turn their attention toward Wendy.

"I may not have been able to get the Fire Dragon-Slayer for my plans, but I'm sure the Sky Dragon-Slayer will do just as nicely", Daphne said as a sinister smile appears on her lips and she gives the command for her army to press forward.

**Romeo**

Fire.

Dancing around him as he came too; the sheer heat tingling his senses as he tried to remember all the events that led up to this moment.

As Romeo struggle to remember he suddenly felt a sharp, agonizing pain coursing through his body, originating from his right lower abdomen. As he glances down, he discovers that he had a broken piece of wood protruding out of him and that he was bleeding profusely.

" _Now I really wish I was more convincing in getting Chelia to come",_ he thinks as gritted his teeth and try to bear through the pain.

"Oh my gods, if Wendy doesn't get to me in time, I'm going to die here", he says aloud, "I finally got to see my mother again, my relationship with Chelia is getting better, I'm getting train by Natsu-nii, and I took my first big step toward recovering from my social-" Romeo stops as he started to cough up considerable amount of blood, "-anxiety. And yet there's a very good chance that I'm going to die. Here, in some random burning house."

Flashbacks start going through Romeo's mind as he started to become light-headed from the amount of blood he was losing.

Memories of him when he was a mere child at Fairy Tail, The day his mom left, the day Natsu brought his dad home from Mt. Hakobe. The day they heard the dreaded news about what happen at Tenrou, the day Jellal installed the lacrima inside of Romeo.

Romeo could faintly feel tears starting to well up in his eyes as more memories came to the surface.

The day he met Chelia terrible as it was. The day him and Lindsay had their argument over her decision to join Twilight Ogre that ended their friendship. The day he became a full-fledged mage for Fairy Tail. The day the Tenrou group, along with Natsu-nii and Wendy, came back into his life. The night he and Chelia had their first kiss.

"I'm really going to die here, aren't I? _"_ Romeo tells himself as the tears coming flooding out now, "Holy magic gods, I think I see the light now."

**BOOM**

The house instantly became engulf in a blazing bluish orange explosion that rocked the city of Tyure.

…

….

Daphne didn't see the explosion coming and unfortunately, neither did Wendy.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13**

**Cards and Bets**

**Flashback**

**(If Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach can abuse them, then why not Fairy Tail and I)**

"Just how much further do we have to go exactly?", Chelia asks as she trailed behind Romeo and Asuka on a forest trail. They have been walking for quite a while now and Chelia was starting to get tired, and a little bit annoyed by the fact that this was her third time asking and even now Romeo has yet to answer her; instead opting to swing Asuka by her arms as they made their way through the woods.

The trio finally arrived at a large clearing with a decent size clear blue lake in the middle. As Asuka goes down to splash around in the water, Romeo finds himself a patch of grass to lie down on and doze off.

"Seriously?", Chelia's voice rings out behind him, "We walk for more than half an hour and when we finally get here you just lay down?"

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to", Romeo calls back to her, "Gods know I'm not stopping you from heading to town right now. Pretty sure Asuka will be content with playing in the lake; she done so well at it in the past."

"Wouldn't she have more fun playing at the city park or something?"

"Her parents already told me to take her out to the forest", Romeo stated.

"I'm pretty sure that if you would have said the park, they would have been just fine about that", Chelia retorts back.

"Oh definitely", Romeo says, "But they both know I rather not go to the park for personal reasons."

"And those are?", Chelia asked.

"Man, you are really nosy", Romeo points out as he observes Asuka playing with some nearby ducks."

"You're the one who brought me out here", Chelia stated as she crosses her arms, "The least you could do is tell me why we didn't take Asuka to a park or something."

Romeo finally sits up from where he was laying and looks back at Chelia with an annoyed look on his face, "You know what, fine. Since apparently, you're going to keeping asking me-"

"I am", Chelia said, "If only to annoy the crap out of you for bringing me out this far and ignoring me the whole time."

" _If only it was that easy_ ", Romeo thought, "I might have well tell you at least one of the reason why I rather come out to the forest than the town… I don't like going to the park. I was supposed to meet someone there for a date a while back-"

"She bailed on you at the last moment", Chelia chuckled causing Romeo to glare at her.

"She was unable to make it for your information", he nearly growled.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that, lover boy", Chelia laughed as she walked over to the lake and sat down a good distance away from Romeo, not caring that the boy was throwing her a glare strong enough to start a forest fire.

* * *

**Back to the Present**

Chelia is snapped out of her daydream as the airship hit a bit of turbulence.

She frowns as she looks out the window from the lounge of Blue Pegasus Christina Bomber. She, along with all Jura and Team Lyon, the aces of Blue Pegasus, and pretty much the entirety of Fairy Tail including Macao, Wakaba, and Master Makarov but excluding Asuka who was being babysat by Mrs. Mine were en-route to aid Romeo, Wendy, Totomaru, and Laxus, in their battles against the escape convicts.

"This is taking too long", she complains as Jura looked down at her.

"Chelia, you must be patience", Jura tells her, "Ichiya-sama has informed us that we're going as fast as we can and will reach Tyure in less than half an hour."

"That's still not soon enough", Chelia grumbled before feeling a heavy hand on her shoulder. She looks up to see Jura looking at her with an assuring smile.

"Romeo will be fine, Chelia. He's a strong lad with a good head on his shoulders. He won't put himself in any unnecessary danger."

Chelia takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly, "I just can't help but be worry about him, you know?"

"He did defeat Velveno, a powerful dark mage, did he not?", Jura points out.

"He did, even if he had a little help at the end", Chelia agree, though inside her mind she was a little bitter about the Unison Raid between Romeo and Wendy.

" _I shouldn't be acting like a little kid about this; I shouldn't be getting jealous over such a little thing",_ Chelia tries to reassured herself, but to no avail.

"Also remember he has that Laxus fellow there as well. The boy may be a little hot-headed but his power is undeniable", Jura says before moving to speak with Master Makarov.

Chelia stares out the window, praying that Romeo was alright. She was staring out at the clouds when she felt someone eyes on her causing her to sigh in an annoyed tone. Being a pop idol, Chelia has gotten her fair share of stares and after awhile she got used to them; but that still didn't mean she likes having them send her way, especially when she thought she was among allies and good friends. As she turns around to see who was staring at her she is surprised when it turns out to be none other than Fairy Tail own Ice-Make mage Gray Fullbuster staring at her from the couch that was placed about seven feet from her.

"Ummm, can I help you?", Chelia asks, not knowing how to address this man. She didn't know Gray very well. Basically, the only information she had on him was stuff that was told to her from Lyon or Enno; and while Lyon didn't paint him in a negative light, he didn't put him in a positive one either. Enno basically said that she remembers him stripping a lot all over town.

"Sorry if my staring bothers you", Gray said while cracking a smile, "I can see how some people might get the wrong idea in this situation", he says as he points his thumb to the back of the room, "Especially her."

Chelia follows the path of his thumbs and finds herself holding her breath as she sees the water mage, Juvia, glaring at her from behind another couch, while emitting a sinister aura.

"Gray-sama is cheating on Juvia-chan with a younger woman. Juvia-chan must see to it that this girl gets the message loud and clear to stay away from Gray-sama", Juvia mumbles although Chelia, along with Gray, definitely heard her loud and clear.

"Don't worry about her, once she sees that I don't have that type of interest in you, she'll back off", Gray tries to reassure her, though it doesn't help much.

"Ooooookaaaayyyyyy", is all Chelia can say to that, " _Romeo has some weird guild mates."_

"Can I ask you a question?" Gray says.

"You just did", Chelia responses.

"Funny", Gray chuckles, "I can see why Romeo loves you. But I have to ask; what do you see in him?"

The question surprised Chelia and she wasn't the only one. Almost everyone stops the conversations they were already having to turn toward Chelia and awaited her answer.

"Why all the questions all of a sudden?", Chelia asked, wondering what this man was getting at. She has been asked this question before by Jenny, but she never expected to be asked by someone from Romeo's guild.

"Don't take it the wrong way; I mean no offense. Simply curious, if you don't want to answer the question, it's fine", Gray tells her, not wanting to push her into doing something she didn't want to do.

Chelia crosses her arms as she levels her gaze at him, "If you must know, it's because he was the first person to look past my status as a pop idol or even my outer appearances and got to know the real me. In fact, I think the concert in Haragon was an eye-opening experience for him in realizing just how famous I really am."

Gray raises an eyebrow at this, "You mean to tell me Romeo didn't know you weren't a pop idol?"

"He knew I was a pop idol; I just don't think he realized just how famous I was until Haragon. I would hate for him to meet one of my more rabid fan clubs, though; those guys give me the creeps sometimes", Chelia admitted.

"A dozen restraining orders and counting", Sherry called out from the other side of the room causing almost everyone who wasn't from Lamia Scale to drop their jaws in disbelief.

"A-a dozen restraining orders?", Levy stutters out.

"Those are just for the ones who didn't stop their behavior after Jura and the others threaten them with physical violence", Sherry said, "And you wouldn't believe how many people try to join Lamia Scale just for the sake of being close to Chelia. Master Ooba had to come up with a special acceptance test just to weave those types of people out."

"Sounds like that a pretty tough life, even at your own guild", Evergreen points out as she scooted closer to Elfman on the couch, a small gesture that did not go unnoticed by Bickslow and Freed, who merely smiled. The two mages have been strangely close to one another ever since Evergreen dragged Elfman out to the forest this morning.

Anyway back to Chelia.

"Yeah, it can be hectic at times, but being with Romeo makes all that disappears", Chelia admitted as a genuine smile appears on her face.

"You know what? I'm honestly amazed that Romeo was able to get a girl like you or even a girl in general", Gray blurts out.

"What's that suppose to mean?", Chelia asks, curious by what he meant.

"Well, I along with a good number of the guild thought Romeo was going to-fdsdf!", Gray yells out as both Levy and Lucy materialized on either side of him and slap their hands onto his mouth.

"My Love rivals have teamed up and are making bold moves on Gray-sama!", Juvia wails as both Levy and Lucy whisper harshly at Gray.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to tell Romeo's _**girlfriend**_ that at one point in his life, more than half of Fairy Tail thought he was gay?!", Levy asks.

"Especially when said girlfriend is a sky god-slayer mage and we're aboard an airship flying hundreds, if not thousands, of feet in the air!" Lucy finishes, "Honestly, I expected this type of thinking from Nastu...

"Or Gajeel", Levy added.

"But not from you Gray!", Lucy said as both women glare holes into the Ice-Make mage.

"Is this about how most of you guys thought Romeo was going to turn out gay?", Chelia asked, causing Lucy, Gray, Levy, and everyone else to look at her with shocked looks on their faces.

"You knew about that?", Levy asked.

"Why wouldn't I?", Chelia shrugged, "Romeo told me about it the other day over the lacrima. Honestly, I don't see how you guys came up with that conclusion. I mean, he was only a child, it's not like he had to be interested in girls at that age."

"Thank you!", Max yells out.

"So you don't find his hero-worshiping of Natsu strange?", Cana asks while looking over at Natsu who for some reason even though the airship was equipped to nullify the effects of motion sickness, was still laying on the ground, looking like he's about to puke.

"I admit, I found it...strange how highly he regarded him", Chelia said as she thought back to all the times Romeo mention how Natsu was the most powerful mage ever; even when he thought he was dead, " _I do wish he would throttle it back a little, though. Pretty soon all anyone going to see him as is just a miniature version of Natsu."_

"Okay since we're asking questions here about you and Romeo's relationship", Cana said, "Answer me this; what about Wendy?"

Soon only the sound of the airship engine could be heard as not a sound was made, besides Natsu's gagging, as now everyone, including Master Makarov and Jura, awaited Chelia's answer.

" _Oh gods, and here I thought Sherry and Jenny were nosy about my love life",_ Chelia thought as she try not to fidget underneath everyone's gazes, " _And what with this question about Wendy all of a sudden?",_ Chelia thought though deep down she has a feeling why they were asking, but she felt the need to clarify.

"What about her?", Chelia asks while still maintain a strong front at least on the outside.

"I mean, how do you feel about Wendy?", Cana explained further.

"Why does it matter what I think about her?", Chelia answered, suddenly getting a little defensive.

"Nothing really", Cana told her, "Just wondering how you're feeling since the Dance job where Romeo and Wendy perform a Unison Raid together even though it was their first time working together."

Chelia felt a small pang of annoyance built up inside of her.

"Cana, what are you doing?", Lucy asks but was ignore by the Card Mage.

"And the fact that they form a team together and he didn't tell you about it", Cana continued on, " _I knew listening in on Romeo's lacrima call wasn't all that bad of an idea."_

That pang switch from annoyance to anger and Chelia felt her eye begin to twitch.

"Cana, you're treading on some pretty dangerous grounds now", Alzack pointed out.

"And Romeo, after being emotionally devastated by the reunion with his mother, had Wendy to lean on for support while all you could do was comfort him over a lacrima even though you were only a train ride away", Cana moaned.

Chelia was now grinding her teeth as her veins began to show on her forehead and she had started to flex and un-flex her hands into fists.

"Ummm Cana, are you sure this is wise?", Levy asked, " _And Romeo didn't even talk to Wendy until this morning. He was basically a shut-in."_

"Or the fact that went out on a job together and right at this very second he's probably protecting her with all of his might and playing the part of the dashing hero; causing poor Wendy to swoon over him like a princess finally finding her knight in shining armor", Cana said without paying any heed to Levy at all.

Now Chelia's foot was rapidly tapping the floor, slightly shaking it, as she tries to contain her anger at Cana's words and was starting to fail miserably.

"You should probably stop now", Bisca warned knowing full-well that Chelia is not a pleasant person to be around when her anger is roused for she had a front row seat to her and Romeo first fight outside the guild hall.

"And who could forget the fact that Romeo had quite the crush on Wendy when he was younger?!", Cana finishes as she finally notices that powerful black swirls were now violently spinning around Chelia and she was breathing heavily while glaring at the Card Mage.

"Should we intervene?", Jura asks as both Makarov and Macao could only watch in horror as Chelia stomp her way over to Cana, shaking the ship in the process.

As she comes within inches of Cana's face, dark wind swirling around the two female mages, Cana kept a satisfying smirk on her lips.

"What is your problem?", Chelia asks thru clenched teeth, "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"No", Cana answered as she took a swig of her bottle, "Just trying to make sure that you really love Romeo."

Chelia's magic, as well as her wrathful expression, dissipates instantly upon hearing that.

"W-What?", the god-slayer says, confused about the turn of events.

"Despite my earlier convictions that Romeo was going to turn out gay", Cana started to explain before tossing her empty bottle to the side and pulling a new one out of her card pouch, "He's still like a little brother to me and I want to make sure he's happy."

"But-", Chelia started to say before Cana merely throws an arm over her shoulder.

"Trust me, anyone who willing to start a fight with a mage of my caliber, in front of her guild mates while they are flying in an airship hundreds, if not thousand of feet in the sky simply because I made her jealous about how her boyfriend is hanging out with another girl, is okay in my book", Cana tells her before leaning into her ear and whispering, "Three things you should know Chelia: One, there are some people out there who won't accept yours and Romeo relationship when it finally becomes public, and don't you dare be gullible enough to think that you guys can keep it a secret forever", Cana says while casting a glance toward Mira and Lisanna.

Chelia's widen in shock upon hearing this, though she failed to notice the look Cana gave the Strauss' sisters. She realize in that moment that there will be people some people out there who won't be too keen on her having Romeo as a boyfriend, mainly due to the fact that he was way different than from what most people, especially her fans, expected her have; her conversation with Jenny in Haragon told her that.

"Second", Cana continues on, "You should give Romeo some credit. If he really did want to be with Wendy, he would have dumped you already or at least shown signs of him wanting to dump you for her."

Chelia looks up at Cana as thinks over what she just told her. Romeo hasn't shown the slightest bit of interest of being in love with Wendy, at least from what she saw. It would seem that at the very least he just wants to be friends with her. Maybe she was overreacting to this whole jealousy bit; not that she wouldn't ever admit that to Sherry.

"And last but not least", Cana takes a deep breath, "Have a little bit more faith in Romeo, will ya? He may not be on your level of power, but he's a lot tougher than he looks."

Chelia was taken aback by Cana's subtle accusation, "I never said he couldn't-"

"Then stop worrying so much. You're not the only one with a boyfriend fighting down there in Tyure", Cana says as she walks away leaving a dumbfounded and blushing Chelia.

As Cana takes a seat at the bar Blue Pegsaus had set up and proceed to order a drink from one of the minor guild members. As the man prepares to hand Cana the drink he suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder and is spun around into the smiling face of the devil herself.

"I like to give her that drink if you don't mind", Mira smile in a way that broker no argument and the man instantly hands her the drink and bolts out the room.

"You always did have a way with men, didn't you Mira?", Cana chuckles at the speculate she just witness, "But then again you somehow got Freed as a boyfriend, despite everyone thinking that he was gay for my boyfriend."

"Oh don't worry; I plan on finding out how exactly you two got together without anyone, including the Thunder Tribe, knowing", Mira reassured Cana as she put her drink down in front of her, put her elbows on the counter and finally places her hands on her cheeks, all while still having that sweet, demonic, smile on her face, "But for now, why don't you explain to me exactly what you're doing?"

"Why I'm joining in on you and Lisanna's little game; that's what I'm doing", Cana states as she downs her drink.

"Why Cana", Mira says, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, and Evergreen panties don't drop every time your brother enters the room", Cana counters.

"I could have live without ever having knowing that, thank you", Mira murmurs as she tries to suppress a shudder.

"Well now you know", Cana says before moving on, "Anyway, I've seen the way you been looking at Romeo and Wendy whenever they're in the same room together. And don't think I didn't notice the not-so-subtle way you put them on a team with one another."

"I'm just trying to make young love blossom", Mira admitted.

"Young love has already blossomed; it's just with Romeo and Chelia and not Romeo and Wendy", Cana tells her, "And frankly, I think she'll make a good girlfriend for Romeo."

"What about Wendy then?" Mira asks.

"What about Wendy?" Cana echoes back, "Look, I love her like a little sister. I would lay down my life for her in a heartbeat without a second thought, but I don't see why she should have Romeo's heart over Chelia. I mean, sure I noticed the looks she throws his way, but that's not enough to make me want to break Romeo up with Chelia so she can hook up with him."

"Okay then", Mira says after thinking over Cana's words for a moment, "What do you propose? Wendy is way too shy to go looking for romance herself. I don't want her to end up alone forever."

"Well, seeing how you have already set the wheels in motion; why don't you and Lisanna just sit back and watch how things play out between Romeo, Chelia, and Wendy?", Cana suggested as she pulls out her pack of tarot cards, three cards in particular, and lays them on the counter, "Everyone in the world is represent by one of the 16 Major Arcane cards in a tarot deck."

"Can't remember the last time you pull out your tarot deck for something other than swindling people into buying you drinks", Mira points out to which Cana ignores as she continues her explanation.

"As you very well know, my cards are blank until I think of a person and then whatever Major Arcane they're represents best by appears on said card", The card mage started off, "Such as…"

"Chelia represents **_The Empress_** _,_ " she started with the first card as the blank card soon shows the image of a woman of grand authority: imperial robes, crown, and all. She was sitting on a throne with a scepter in her hand, "Overflowing with confidence while truly believing what's in her heart."

"Wendy represents **_The High Priestess_** ," Cana explains before pulling out another card and it too changes to the picture of a religious woman, decorated in the robes of one dedicated to a divine deity. She was knelt down over a man cover in infectious all over his body, bandaging his wounds, "She'll always put over before herself, no matter what the cost."

"Romeo represents **_The Sun_** _,_ ", as she lays the card down alongside the other two and it changes over to a small child standing in a green pasture as the mighty sun on high shone brightly, " For no matter how dark it may seem in a situation, he'll always shine radiant. The kid is like a walking inferno of positive energy. I mean, he was only down for a week with the whole Enno thing."

As she lays all three cards down in front of her, she looks up at Mira who has been studying the whole situation.

"Interesting", the Take-Over mage comments.

"It is indeed, but there is one more card", Cana states as she reaches into her bag and puts another blank card that within moment changes to the image of a man and a woman lock together in a intense kiss.

"Is that what I think it is?", Mira wonders.

"In the end, only two of the three will become **_The Lovers_** ", Cana finished as she places the card above the rest, but not before throwing a slight glance over at Elfman and Evergreen who have moved even closer together on the couch, "The one left over will have to learn to move on."

"Oh… and which one will that be?", Mira asks to which Cana lazily shrugs.

"The hell if I know; I can't see the future. All I know is that nothing is for certain and nothing is guaranteed to last forever," Cana replies, "Now bring me another drink, will ya?"

Mira turns around and grabs another expensive looking cooler from the shelf and proceeds to pour it in a glass for Cana, "So what you're saying is that even though Romeo is with Chelia now that may change later down the line, correct?"

"They're not even sixteen; that still pretty young", Cana answers as she puts her cards away, "Young enough for anything to happen in their relationship."

"Huh, I suppose you're right", Mira says as she finishes filling the glass.

"You don't often hear those words come out of someone mouth", Cana comments.

"No you do not", Mira agrees, "So let's say Lisanna and myself don't stop our "little game" as you put it, then what?"

"Well I guess I'll have to get involve and show you how much of an amateur you two are when it comes to these sorts of things", Cana declares with a smug grin on her face.

"Oh dear Cana", Mira smiles back, "You have no idea the forces you're dealing with. No one can beat me at my own game."

"Such confidence born of ignorance; so use to playing the matchmaker and yet having no one ever challenge you", Cana tells her, "Fine then, keep playing your games. But, if you're going to force me to get involve we're going to establish some ground rules first, that's okay with you?"

"By all means, name them", Mira says.

"First off; no bringing people into your schemes by force, they have to willingly want to be a part of it. That means no threats, no blackmail, and definitely no bribing", Cana starts out, "I put two and two together and figure out what happen between Elfman and that Count's Ball job, shame on you for doing that to your own brother."

Mira thinks on this for a moment before nodding her head, "Okay, I can agree to that."

"Second rule: No direct attempts to make Romeo dislike either of the girls. You're allow to make it where he sees them in a positive light, but you can't manipulate events to where he see them in a negative one", Cana states.

"That sounds fair as well", Mira agreed.

"Third rule: If we are in the middle of a dangerous job or whatever; you, me, Lisanna, and whoever else may have joined in by that time have to stay our hands on the bet until said job is over. We shouldn't risk anyone life over a bet."

"Of course that goes without saying. Hopefully Romeo and Wendy can hold on long enough for us to get to them in time.", Mira said, "I would hate to see them hurt or worse."

"I'm sure they're fine. Both of them got a good head on their shoulders and it not like they're fighting a serious dark mage or anything; it's Daphne for gods sakes. I think Laxus and that Totomaru guy have the way tougher oppenents", Cana reassured Mira.

"Well back to the matter at hand. Do you have anything more rules you like to establish?", The eldest Strauss sibling asked.

"One more thing", Cana says as she takes her drink and downs it in a single gulp, "No matter how this ends, and I'm pretty sure we'll know when it ends, we'll respect whatever decision was made and leave it alone. We will not treat the parties involve in this any different than we did before all this started, agreed?"

"Very well then Cana, you have yourself an agreement", Mira says as she holds her hand out.

"Glad to see we could keep this civilized", Cana says as she takes the hand and shakes on it. Afterwards she puts out her cards once more to look at them again, chuckling as she looked through them, "Fairy Tail is definitely going to be interesting in the coming days with these three."

" ** _The Empress, the High Priestess_** _,_ and the-" as Cana suddenly stops as Mira notices that she was looking at the card that only a few minutes earlier she said best represented Romeo.

"What is it, Cana?", she asks as she noticed the confuse expression on the Card Mage face.

"Romeo's card", Cana started to say, "It's different."

"Different how?"

"A moment ago, Romeo was represented by _the Sun_ _,_ but now he represented by another card; two in fact."

"And what cards would those be?" Mira asks knowing better to trust Cana's knowledge on the matter, as she looks down and notice that the boy card was alternating between to images. One showed the body of the Grim Reaper, poise with his scythe, ready to strike. And then it switches to the image of an angel floating high above a man, woman, and child, who were all their knees with their hands in the air in a gesture that Mira could only describe as them begging for forgiveness.

"EVERYONE; LOOK OUTSIDE!", Lucy's suddenly screams out as all eyes turn toward the open window in the direction of Tyure. Everyone goes silent in shock and fear as they all witness a colossal spiral of orange and blue flames that stretch upward to the sky filling them with it brilliant blaze. To all who witness it, it was like the heavens themselves were burning.

"Isn't that", Alzack begun to say.

"Tyure?", Bisack finished, even though she, along with everyone else, knew that it was.

 _"_ Romeo's cards are…", Cana finished while still paying witness to the tower of blazing hell…

* * *

**Now Back To Chelia after Cana's chat with her…**

"What was all that about?" Chelia wondered as she sits down on a couch while Sherry merely pats her shoulder.

"That, my dear cousin, was your first cross-examination by your significant other's sister figure", Sherry answered, "Though Cana did go about it a... unusual way and to be honest, I was half-expecting Kinana to give you one by now."

Chelia gawks at her cousin, "Wait, you been through something like that before?"

"Of course I have", Sherry responds, "Remember when I left for three weeks four years ago? I went to meet Ren's family for the first time and trust me I had it way worse than you."

Chelia could only shake her head in confusion before hearing Sherry says, "It's going to be worse when Enno gives you the talk."

Chelia turns to look at Sherry with wide eyes, "Why would Enno do that to me? She likes me already!"

"You're so naive some days, Chelia", Sherry comments as she shakes her head, "She liked you as a student, not as Romeo's girlfriend. That's completely different."

"Why?"

"It just is, that's why. I bet that next time you and she are in a room together alone; she'll start asking you questions.", Sherry stated.

Chelia pales at the thought of having to have such an uncomfortable talk with her dance instructor.

"And it not like you two was the best of friends when you first met. There's a good chance she's going to ask about that", Sherry kept saying as Chelia's eyes go wide as she remembers back once again to her first day meeting the fire mage. She throws her face into her hands, though Sherry could clearly make out the words being said….

"I am so screwed", The Sky God Slayer groans.

"EVERYONE! LOOK OUTSIDE!" the cousins suddenly hear and both of them turn their heads toward the windows and gasp in horror.

"Romeo!", Chelia cried out at the sight she bear witness to.

* * *

**Back To the Battlefield**

When Wendy landed back on the ground she was exhausted. Using such a mighty roar on such short notice to propel her upward out of the way of the explosion took quite the toll on her body and she had to go to the ground on her knees when she could no longer support herself on her feet.

" _Thank goodness for my quick reaction time",_ she thought as she stares in awe at the destruction that was caused by the unknown explosion. The charred black scorch ground stretch to encompass the entire park and all of the building surrounding the park were reduced to rubble. The smell of burnt trees, dirt and even the very air itself flooded her nostrils and she had to cover up her nose to prevent herself from gagging due to her enhance smell. As Wendy surveyed all of the wreckage, a frighten thought pop in her head...

"Romeo!", she screamed out as she realized that she lost track of the fire mage while in the midst of her own struggles, "Romeo, where are you?!"

Her eyes scanned frantically for her teammate she noticed something moving near the burned out remains of what was once the playground.

A large body of what seem to be charred lizardmen remains moving about.

"Stupid! Useless! Good for nothing maggots!", his enhanced hearing picks up the sound of Daphne ranting on as her hand suddenly pops and she snaps her fingers twice; instantly dispelling the dead lizardmen. Doing this only left an annoyed looking Daphne dusting herself off as she looked around at the damage.

"I must say that random explosion caught me off-guard but thankfully I installed an override command into my lizardmen that make them value my self-perseverance over their own in case of such an event", the mad scientist-mage explained.

Wendy stares at her with a confuse look as a question mark appears above her head, "Ummm... come again?"

"I made it that they would sacrifice their lives to protect mine", Daphne put it simply.

"Oh, I see", Wendy commented as she suddenly finds the strength to stand up and takes a stance.

"And now I'll unleash my full might upon this world as I summon my new and improve drag-", Daphne ranted off before Wendy slams her fist into her gut; causing her to collapse to the ground in pain and promptly pass out.

"Yeahhhhhh...not to be like big brother Natsu and Gajeel, but that dragon of yours was a real pain in the butt last time and I really don't have time to deal with that right now", Wendy tells Daphne as she bows her head to apologize to the unconscious woman, "And now I must go check on my teammate."

And it was in that moment after saying those words that Wendy felt the hairs on her neck stand up and her dragon senses screamed:

DANGER!

She quickly drops to the ground just in time to dodge a boulder traveling at high speeds inches above her head.

"Nice reaction, kid", a figure behind her said in a low, burly voice.

Wendy spins around to see a large, cloaked, imposing figure standing two yards away from her with his arms crossed.

" _How did he get so close without me noticing him?"_ Wendy thought as she prepared to fight.

"Relax, kid", the cloaked man said, "I didn't come here to fight you; I was merely testing your reaction time", as he strolls over to a burning building, completely ignoring Wendy, who was having an internal struggle going on inside of her.

On one hand, all of her senses were screaming for her to attack this strange man. On the other hand, there was a voice in the back of her head telling her to just leave him alone.

It was in times like this that Wendy turn to the guidance of her fellow dragon-slayers to help her solve this problem.

" _What would Natsu do?"_ Wendy wondered before visualize the pink hair slayer attacking a horde of enemies head on with his roar with no regard to safety.

" _Okay, probably not the best example. What about Gajeel?",_ before the image of Gajeel unleashing his Iron-Dragon Roar on another horde of enemies while narrowly missing his fellow guild mates pop into her head.

" _Surely Laxus-",_

Same attack plan, same horde. The only difference is that Laxus looked bored with the whole notion.

" _I need to find better role models",_ Wendy thought as she decided to leave the man be and continued her search for Romeo instead, but not before she picks with her super hearing...

"Now where did that purple hair boy go? I turn my head for a moment and I lose track of him", she hears the man say and before she knows it, she proves that she wasn't that much different from the other dragon-slayers.

**" _SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!_ _"_**

"Oh for the love of- **_EARTH DRAGON'S TERRA DOME!_ _'_ "**, the man shouts before his entire body is engulfed by the ground itself, forming a dome around him and easily taking the brunt of Wendy's attack.

"What?", is all Wendy has time to say before...

" _ **EARTH DRAGON'S SHATTERING MOUNTAIN**!_ _",_ as large chunks of rock and dirt break off the man's shield and pummel themselves at her at such incredible speed that she barely dodges the first one by the width of a sword's edge. And from there she performs a combination of flips and spins to avoid the other three dozens rock projectiles, as they streaked by her and collide with buildings behind her, reducing everything that was in their path that wasn't already destroy by the explosion to rumble.

Wendy lasts on the ground after flipping over the last rock and prepares to go on the offensive against the man, who looked more bored than anything.

"Look girly, while I am slightly impressive that you maintain to avoid getting hit by all that, I'm really on a tight schedule so if you don't mind-", as he holds a hand out and a magic circle appears...

" ** _EARTH DRAGON'S GAIA'S TOMB_ _!"._**

" _So he is a dragon-slayer",_ Wendy thinks right before a tidal wave of rock and dirt shoots out from underneath her and encased the young dragon-slayer, leaving only her face exposed. As she struggled in vain to break free, she realizes that even her toes and fingers were enclosed in rock. She tried to draw breath only to find out the hard way that she couldn't expand her chest without feeling pressure from the rocks.

"Now be a good girl and stay there while I look around, will ya? I don't want to have to cover that pretty little face of yours next", the stranger says as he walks past her to continue his search for Romeo.

It didn't take long to find him.

A column of bluish orange fire erupts upward, filling the sky with it brilliant blaze. Moments later a figure stumbles out from where the fire originated, walking forward like a drunk who just got kick out of the bar. Though Wendy couldn't see what was going on behind her; her nose definitely caught the scent of Romeo, but she noticed that something was off with the scent. To her, it almost smells like he was on fire.

If she could turn around just an inch, she would have been shocked to know that she was indeed correct. Romeo was a walking blazing inferno. From the top of his head to the sole of his feet, he was emitting an aura of blue and orange flames. Even his eyes weren't spare the treatment as they glowed immensely with the blaze.

"There you are", the man smiles.

And as if the very words the man said were a trigger to set off a bomb, Romeo instantly turns toward the man and launches at him from across the distance of about thirty feet with a kick surrounded by the dancing orange bluish flames that encase the rest of his body.

**_"_ _FIRE PHOENIX'S SOARING TALON_ _!"_ **

**_Back to the airship_ **

"Romeo's cards now say...", Cana began….

**_"_ ** _**Death and Judgement.** "_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Doesn't Matter If You're Friend or Foe**

**Two Weeks Later... in a flashback, it's a little confusing at this point**

Romeo's patience was being push to its limits at this point. He thought two weeks ago after he first took Asuka and Chelia into the forest, that be it, he wouldn't have to deal with the pink-haired annoyance ever again.

But apparently, the gods had other plans.

In the past two weeks alone, the girl has come to the guild three times, each time wearing on Romeo's willpower to not burn her to a crisp; God-slayer or famous idol be damn.

It also didn't help that Asuka was at school, so there was really no one around to distract Chelia, and since either everyone else was out on jobs or handling personal stuff, that only left him, his dad, and Kinana at the guild hall when Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus arrived that day.

He hope his dad wasn't cheap enough to botch on the guild hall insurance.

"What are you reading?" the God-Slayer asks from across the table, mostly out of sheer boredom.

"Why are you here again?", was the boy reply without looking up from his book, "Don't you have like, a music career or something to do?"

"Don't you have some trees to hug?", Chelia retorted.

The two descend into silence for a few minutes before Kinana came through and starts wiping down the table they were sitting at. She tried to appear unfazed by the fact that she was in the middle of a hardcore staring contest between the two slayers and she pray that they didn't see her sweating bullets due to the intense magical presence both of them were giving off. Eventually Alzack and Bisca arrived with Asuka in tow and Kinana broke off from cleaning the table to go and greet them, breathing a internal sigh of relief while doing so.

"Hi Romeo! Hi Chelia!", Asuka's voice rung out as both teenagers instantly drop their glaring match to greet her with happy smiles on their faces.

"Hello Asuka!", they both said at the same time, "How are you today?"

"I'm doing great! Today was a early day at school, so now I'm free for the rest of the day! Can we go play?", the little girl gushed causing Chelia to engulf her in a bear hug.

"Aw, you're so cute!", the pop idol screamed, "I just want to eat you up!"

"Maybe if you ate less you wouldn't have a such a pork belly", Romeo mumbled to himself, and a second later he noticed the air start to pick up a little around their table, " _She has good hearing, I see",_ and Romeo looks over at the two girls and see Chelia throwing the coldest glare his way while still hugging Asuka. She mouths the words, " _ **Keep pushing me and see what happens.**_ _"_

To which Romeo merely lifts an eyebrow as Chelia dons her smile before releasing her hug and looking at Asuka.

"Where do you want to go play?", she asks the little cowgirl.

"Can we go to the park pretty please?", the girl asks as stars appear in her eyes.

"I don't see why not?" Chelia said as she casts a sideways glance at Romeo, who was back to reading his book, "In fact, I think we should all go."

"Absolutely not", Romeo says without so much as glancing at the girls from his book.

"Aww, why do you have to be like that?", Chelia asks, "I'm sure Asuka wants you to come."

Never in Romeo's short life did he ever want to hit a girl so bad, not even that time with Lindsay. But the sly grin on Chelia's face irritated him to no end.

"I said no", Romeo tells Chelia once again, this time looking her straight in the eyes.

"Why don't we see what Asuka wants?", Chelia smiles as she looks down at the girl, "Do you want Romeo to come to the park with us?"

The cowgirl nods her head vigorously, "I want Romeo to come play with us!"

"See?", Chelia coos as she looks back at Romeo, "You don't want to make her sad, now do you?"

Romeo looks over at Asuka who had hopeful look on her face.

" _Now that's just playing dirty",_ Romeo thought bitterly as he stood up and walk away, "Sorry Asuka, I'll make it up to you."

"Awwww", she whined while Chelia merely scoffed.

"You seriously need to get over this girl, whoever she was", Chelia snide.

Romeo stops in mid-step and slowly turns around to face the god-slayer, "And you need to get over the fact that Lyon guy is out of your age limit."

Chelia's eyes narrow, "Excuse me?"

"Well last time I checked the guy wasn't into younger girls, at least girls as young as you", Romeo remarks, "And aren't there laws against that?"

Romeo's eyes pick up black swirls gathering in Chelia's left hand and slight trembling in her body language.

"Asuka", Romeo calls out to the girl, "Why don't you go see if Kinana needs help?"

"But I want to go to the park now!", Asuka whines as she headed toward Kinana.

"And you will, don't worry", Romeo assures her while not taking his eyes off Chelia. He highly doubt that she would use her magic in the guild hall while being so close to someone like Asuka, but he was taking no chances as he started to focus his own magic into his lacrima and instantly felt the feeling of dragon-slayer magic rushing through him.

Chelia couldn't believe it; not even Arashi or Megan had ever gotten under her skin as much as this boy has. Saying that she doesn't have a chance with Lyon; who does he think he is? Even now Chelia could feel herself struggling to keep her magic at bay, trying not to unleash it on this annoying pest. She has everything any guy would want in a girl: looks, a fantastic body, and a charming personality; what guy wouldn't want her?

Asuka returns a moment later, "Kinana said that she didn't need any help, can we go to the park now?"

Romeo and Chelia both turn their attention to the girl and briefly wonder if she could even feel the tension between the two of them or did she simply just ignore it.

Asuka looks between the two of them, "Well, can we?"

Romeo notices the sly look Chelia was throwing him and turns around, "Sure, Chelia can take you", and was about to walk away when he felt two tiny hands wrap around his and pull back.

"But I want you to come too!", Asuka says, "I want to play with you and Chelia!"

"I don't think that's a good idea", Romeo tries to calmly tell her but to no avail.

"Please!", Asuka cried.

"Asuka, I don't think-", Romeo began to says before noticing the girl's eyes were beginning to tear up.

"Okay, that trick isn't going to work on me and you know it!", Romeo tells Asuka, "Now stop acting like a baby and-!"

" **WAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"** , erupts throughout the guild as Asuka began to bawls right there on the spot, "ROMEO DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY WITH ME!"

"I never said that!", Romeo tries to defend himself before….

"Ahem", comes from behind him and he turns around to see his father, Bisca, Alzack, Kinana, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus all looking at him with disapproving looks.

"Men….to make such a little angel cry tears of sadness, truly despicable", Ichiya says to which the Trimens simply nodded.

"Romeo", Macao starts, "All she wants you to do is go to the park with her, is that too much to ask?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It seems that you have forgot the part where I have social anxiety", Romeo reminds him.

" _Social anxiety?",_ Chelia asks herself, " _Like, he's afraid to make friends?"_

"At this time of day, there isn't a lot of people at the park with the festival preparation going on", Macao counter, "And like Porlyusica said, you need to start easing your into public places in order to get better."

"Can't this wait for another day?", Romeo practically beg only to get a pointed finger to the door and a stern look from his father, "Fine, I'll go. But when you get a call from the town doctor saying that I have just collapse in the town park, you'll know who fault it was."

"Stop being melodramatic and go."

Romeo turns back to the still crying Asuka who was now being comfort by Chelia, "You ready to go to the park, Asuka?", Romeo asks in a deadpan voice and right before his eyes the tears disappear from the little girl's face and she's standing there with a smile so bright that Romeo had to shield his eyes a little.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go!", she squeals while Chelia try to hide a laugh and failed.

"Yeah", she snorted, "Let's get going, Romeo."

The whole time the three of them were walking town, Romeo's glare never left the God-slayer and Chelia's smiirk never left her lips.

_**Back to the Present** _

" _ **FIRE PHOENIX'S SOARING TALON!",**_ the fiery figure that was known as Romeo screams as he launches himself at the mysterious figure that had encase Wendy.

"Okay kid, let's play!", the man laughs as he pound his fist into the ground, " _ **EARTH'S DRAGON RISING MOUNTAIN!"**_

A mass of solid earth erupts in front of the man, taking Romeo's attack head-on with a resounding crash and forcing Romeo to flip back and try a different approach.

" **EARTH'S DRAGON GAIA'S PROTECTION!",** as the mini mountain sinks back into the ground and a circular wall formed out of the ground around the man. The wall stretch up to been almost twelve feet high and a ceiling form on top of it, "Okay kid, my job was to test out your new abilities and that's what we're going to do! Give it your best shot cause this wall is at least three feet thick of solid rock!"

" _ **FIRE PHOENIX'S ENDLESS TALONS BARRAGE!"**_ the man hears as soon the entire structure of rock is vibrating under ferocious blows as Romeo unleash a swarm of quick bluish/orange inferno engulf kicks on the wall, each kick impacting with enough force to cause a crack to appear on the it. Unfortunately, Romeo was too engross in his frenzy of attacks to notice that the wall simply fix itself up whenever there was a pause between impacts.

"That's it kid, keep at it! Make this whole thing worth me getting out of bed!", the man chuckles from behind his protected barrier as a slasher smile appear on his lips, "Soon enough you'll burn yourself out, literally, and then we can really test your Phoenix-Slayer abilities."

And Romeo would have kept up his assault if his attention didn't get drawn to the sound of clashing metal that was coming from further down the street.

For in front of town's city hall, both Totomaru and Erigor continue their grudge match as signs of fatigue began to show itself on both the combatants. As Erigor slash upward toward Totomaru's chest, the former Elemental Four mage was able to roll forward, completely dodging the blow and putting himself within striking distance of the wind mage who try to bring his scythe back in time to defend himself, but was too slow as Totomaru launches a thrust at the man and impales him through the left shoulder. To the dark mage's credit, he only hisses in pain as Totomaru quickly withdraws his blades and lays the tip on his throat.

"Do you give up yet?", Totomaru asks, "Or shall we continue this pointless fight until you're lying on the ground bleeding to death?"

Erigor merely laughs, "Alright, I'll admit that you have gotten a bit stronger since our last encounter, but if you think I'm just going to surrender to your rainbow flaming ass, you got another thing coming!"

Before Totomaru could come up with reply, " **LIGHTNING DRAGON'S ROAR!"** echoes through the town and a giant stream of electrifying magic blows through the middle of the town hall building, forcing both Erigor and Totomaru to jump away from one another in other to dodge the spell.

Another figure appears nearby, panting heavily as his body drips with sweats, "Bastard, he's on a whole other level."

Cobra entire body was coursing with volts of lightning in the aftermath of him barely be able to dodge Laxus' last spell, with a jolt going through him every few seconds, "Think it's time I get out of here and come get this bastard when he least expects it."

"For a guy who can apparently read people's minds, you sure get caught unaware a lot", a voice says to the right of him and Cobra spins around in time to have a fist contact with his face, sending him flying down the street, with landing close-by where Erigor was recovering from his wounds and the exertion of having to move so far so quickly.

"Shit, that guy is really doing a number on you, isn't he?", Erigor points out, "And here I thought you were one of the tough ones."

"Bite me, wind bitch!", Cobra growls as he struggles to stand up, "I don't see you doing any better."

"Least I'm not getting toss around", Erigor counters before feeling a presence from the other side of the Poison Dragon-Slayer

"You're welcome to join in if you want, I sure there's a bounty for you as well", Laxus states as stood there with his arms cross, "If not just stay put until I'm done with him, you don't want to have me chasing you."

"If you would be so kind, I would like to finish my duel with him", Totomaru says as he appears a few yards away from in front of Erigor, "He and I have a personal grudge we're trying to bury."

Laxus lifts a eyebrow and he turns his attention to the newcomer and studies him for a moment, "Aren't you that fire guy who use to belong to Phantom Lord? The one that loss to that flaming idiot?"

"Yes, I am Totomaru, formerly of the Element Four, and I believe you are Laxus Dreyar, formerly of Fairy Tail", the Rainbow Fire Teacher answers, "My compatriot, Gajeel, has inform me of the time that you took your anger out him over the brief war we had with Fairy Tail."

"Did he now?", Laxus almost sound amuse.

"Do you plan to do the same to me?", Totomaru wondered.

"I don't know, we'll see what mood I'm in when all this is said and done", Laxus answers.

"Oh, we'll definitely see what mood you're in when everything is said and done!", a voice rings out from top of the remains of city hall, "That is if you're still alive and whatnot!"

All four mages turn their sight upward to see the same cloak man who was fighting Romeo and Wendy, standing there looking down at them.

"And who the hell might you be?", Laxus asks, "Cause I ain't got time to be dealing with every wannabe dark mages who wants to make a name for himself by fighting me!"

"Oh, it's not me you need to worry about", the man says as he points down the streets, "It's him you need to worry about."

Everyone looks down the road to see a bluish-orange fire engulf body of Romeo slowly walking toward them with unyielding blazing eyes focusing straight at them.

"Brat?", Laxus says aloud.

"Romeo?", Totomaru says before pointing his sword straight at the man, "What did you do to him?!"

"Me?", the man says while making mocking gesture of pointing at himself, "You're the one who gave him the lacrima, remember?"

Totomaru's eyes widen in shock and Laxus briefly take his eyes off Romeo and glances toward him, "What is he talking about?"

"Oh, that's right!", the man mockingly gasps, "You thought the lacrima was harmless? That's cute, you have no idea what you gave the boy! Oh well, not my problem! You know what else isn't also my problem, that guy", as he points at Romeo, "I was having my fun with him but then he decided that you guys might provide more of a workout for him. Sad really, if I wasn't order to hold back against him I could have really put him through the works."

Romeo had finally finish walking and was now standing some twenty feet away from Laxus and the rest of the mages, his flames burning so fierce that even Erigor, who was the farthest away from him, was starting to sweat from their heat.

"Kid", Laxus began as he fully turn around to face him, "You need to calm down. I know we have had our differences in the past, but you need to think about your actions before you get hurt. "

"Don't even bother talking to him", the cloak man said, "In the Berserker state he's in right now, he can't differentiate friend from foe. In fact, the only words he can say is whatever spell he's casting", he explains as a smile comes to his face, "Ah, I remember when I use to be like that, oh the destruction and death I cause, good times."

While this "conversation" was going on, Erigor was silencing planning his escape route out of this whole mess, " _Right now the lightning guy seems to be distracted by the kid, that sword-wielding bastard seems to be too stunned to notice anything right now, and that cloak fellow doesn't seem to give a damn about me right now. This could be my only chance to escape, but I have to ensure that the lightning bastard can't follow me."_

Erigor looks down at his scythe and an almost sadden look comes to his face, " _Sorry old girl, you and I have been through hell and back together, but if I going to get out of here, I have to leave you behind. Don't worry though, I'll make sure you'll get one last drink before I go."_

Within a blink of a eye, Erigor puts his plan into action. Gripping his scythe with both hands, he brings them back behind his head for a split second, bearing through the pain in his shoulder, before hurling them forward, letting go of the scythe in the process

The scythe twirls forward at alarming speed, it blade reflecting the sunlight as it soars toward the wide open back of Laxus, who was still staring at Romeo.

For Cobra and Erigor, it all happen so fast. One moment Laxus was standing there, the next there was a bright yellow flash and Erigor was lying on the ground with Laxus' foot pressing down on him.

"I got to say, if I was your teacher and giving you a grade for that plan of yours", the cloak man said as the sat down cross-legged, "I would give you a "F" for execution, but a "A" for effort."

"I told you to stay put", Laxus growls as the sound of metal cutting through flesh brings his attention back to Romeo.

" _Oh crap, he was standing right in front of me",_ Laxus thinks as he brings his head up and his eyes widen in horror, "The old man going to kill me."

For standing there with blood pouring out of the stump that use to be his right arm was still a glaring, fiery Romeo who didn't look faze in the slightest that his severed arm was currently lying on the ground next to his feet.

"Romeo?", Totomaru asks now that his attention has been brought back to the boy, "Are you alright?"

No response came from the boy.

Totomaru was about to speak again when the arm on the ground erupted into blue and orange flames, the same color flames that Romeo was currently emitting.

"Behold and be amaze, peons", the hooded man said from atop his perch, "As you get to witness the signature technique of all who wield Phoenix-Slayer magic…."

As the arm quickly burn away into ashes, the cremated remains suddenly started to rise off the ground and quickly make their way upward toward Romeo's stump. Before everyone's eyes the ashes rapidly form the shape of a human arm, all the way down to the hand and fingers. Once they were fully done with that, the blacken arm replica burst into bluish orange flames and when the flames dissipate after a moment, a new fresh and blood arm appear in its place.

"While a Phoenix-Slayer lacks the resurrection powers of a real phoenix, they do have one hell of a healing factor."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Recovery**

" _Oh, thank the gods there was no one at the park today_ ", Romeo thought as he, Chelia, and Asuka, began their walk back up to the guild hall, the little cowgirl happily humming a song as she walk along hand in hand with the pop idol and the fire mage, " _I did not need that mess on my plate today_."

"Romeo! Chelia!", Asuka shouts as the trio nears the guild, "Do you like one another?"

The look Romeo throws Asuka would have been the equivalent of her asking him if he was happy that Natsu and the others weren't around anymore.

"W-Where did you get that idea from?", Chelia ask, her face basically mirroring Romeo, shock and confuse.

"Well, whenever I see mommy and daddy argue, they tell me that it's because they love each other", Asuka explains.

"Gods forbid that I question the relationship of one of the only stable couples I have ever seen in Fairy Tail", Romeo started, "But Asuka, just because your mom and dad are like that doesn't mean everyone is like that."

"Are you sure?", Asuka question.

"Positive!", Romeo and Chelia blurt out at the same time before glaring at another as they walk up to the guild hall where Jura-sama was standing at the guild hall doors waiting for them.

**The Present**

Laxus couldn't believe it. Why, of all times, did he have to grow a conscious? Currently, he was in the process of dodging a barrage of flaming kicks from a fiery Romeo, who has been on the offense for the past five minutes ever since his arm regenerated. It wasn't like he was barely dodging the attacks or was afraid that they might hurt him, it was more along the lines is that if one of the kids' hits actually annoy him enough, the Lighting Dragon Slayer might actually instinctively react with a hit of his own and he wasn't in the mood to explain to his grandpa or the kid's dad about the aftermath of said hit because he had a hard time holding back.

Still, though he has never heard of someone wielding two different slayer types of magic before. He recall a couple minutes ago Freed informing him of Phoenix Slayer Magic a few years back, but he didn't know of anyone who could use it. But he would have time to worry about that later as he leans back to dodge an incoming burning kick from Romeo and moves to block the backspin kick he threw with an electrically charge arm, physically restraining himself was striking back at the boy in reflex.. Back-flipping away from Romeo, Laxus lands a couple yards away, folding his arms across his chest as he landed.

"Okay, kid", he began, "I'm going to need you to calm down before you get hurt and I have to explain myself to my old man...and your father...and possibly the Rune Knights and a judge."

Only the crackling of the flames emitting off Romeo could be heard as he took a step toward Laxus.

" _This would be so much easier if he was that flaming pink-hair idiot instead. One strong punch, boom, down for the count. Some slight brain damage, but he would have live. Who am I kidding? This would be so much easier if he wasn't Fairy Tail's baby boy",_ Laxus thought as Romeo got closer, "Not going to warn you again, brat."

Romeo merely stares at him through taking off in a sprint toward him.

"Dammit, kid! You hung around that flaming idiot so much that you adopt his battle plan!", as Laxus made ready to dodge the next barrage of kicks when he notice once Romeo got closer to him that the boy was in the process of taking an unusually deep breath.

" _I know where this is going",_ Laxus thought, "Kid, if that pink idiot's breath spell couldn't faze me then what makes you think that your is-", as Laxus suddenly stop and remember back to a conversation he was having with Freed some years back about Phoenix-Slayer magic….

_**Flashback to a couple years ago** _

"Phoenix-Slayer magic? Never heard of it", Laxus answers as he walks down the road leaving to Magnolia alongside the Thunder tribe, "What of it?"

"Well Laxus-sama, it is an extremely rare Slayer-type magic which grants its user powerful healing ability along with other aspects. I only found out about through reading some of those ancient scrolls you were about to throw out because they didn't pertain to Lighting Dragon-Slayer magic ", Freed explain.

"What's the difference between it and Dragon-Slayer magic?", Evergreen wonder as she was fixing her make-up.

"Well, besides the healing ability, Phoenix-Slayer magic has more power behind it but lacks the range of its Dragon-Slayer counterparts", Freed stated.

"Lacks the range?", Bickslow repeated.

"Yes, you know how Laxus-sama or that barbarian Natsu's breath attacks can travel quite a distance without losing their power?", Freed asks.

"I never been on the receiving end of either one of them-", Bickslow started to say.

"Would you like to?", Laxus grunted over his shoulder.

"No thanks, boss. But yeah, I have seen them go quite far", Bickslow conclude.

"Well, Phoenix-Slayer magic is just more condensed in a way. Takes away the distance, but adds more power behind it to compensate. Going off the texts I read, a breath attack from a Phoenix-Slayer user should go no more than a couple feet at best, but instead engulfs the immediate area around the user, allowing them to hit multiple targets in a close proximity within one breath and while also forcing them back afterward."

**Present**

"Aw, crap", was all Laxus had time to say….

" **Fire Phoenix's Screech!"**

Before being engulfed in an inferno vortex that sends him rocketing backward through three buildings before finally skidding along the ground to a stop. As he lay there on the ground looking up at the endless blue sky, only one thought was going through his head…

" _I wonder what Cana doing right now? I got a date with her coming up and I wonder where she would like to go",_ as he stood up and dust himself off.

"Ummm, excuse me, Laxus?", he hears a voice call out to his side and he turns to see a formation of rocks with a face peeking out from the top of it.

"Wendy?"

"Yes! I seem to ...um...gotten stuck. If you would be so kind as to help me out", the girl politely asks, astonishing the former S-class that the girl could still be so polite despite the situation she was in.

"Yeah, give me a sec, kid", as he walks over to her and took a hold of the rocks, "Don't move."

"O-okay", Wendy comply as she sees lightning coursing through Laxus' arms and a moment later he rips apart the rocks as though they were paper, freeing the young dragon-slayer. As she collapses to the ground due to being unable to move for a long time, she is caught by Laxus, who helps steady her.

"How you end up like that?" , Laxus ask.

"There was a large man in a cloak who put me in it. I didn't see his face, but he was using Earth Dragon-Slayer magic!", Wendy explain.

"Earth Dragon-Slayer magic?", Laxus repeated.

Wendy nodded, "Yes, and he was good at it! Plus, he started fighting Romeo!", before she gasps and put a hand on her mouth, "Where Romeo?! Is he okay?! The last time I smell his scent, he smell like he was on fire!"

Laxus puts his hand on top of the girl's head in an effort to calm her down, "Trust me, Romeo doing just fine."

"But he was on fire from what I smell!"

"Like I said, he's fine", Laxus said while looking at the direction he came flying from, " _Where is he anyway?"_

"Wendy?", Laxus asks the still slightly panicky girl, "Were you able to pick up the earth guy's scent?",

"I got a faint whiff of him before he encased me and left", Wendy answer.

"Can you try and smell him out?" to which Wendy nodded and began sniffing the air. She continues like this for a moment while Laxus kept a lookout for Romeo and the cloaked man.

"I can't smell him anywhere!", Wendy tells Laxus upon finishing, "It's like he vanish!"

Laxus was skeptical about that answer but decided to focus on the more immediate threat who has yet to appear.

"Hey, Wendy", Laxus said, catching the girl's attention, "Follow me, stay close, and keep a lookout", as he started moving toward the last known location of the Conbolt boy.

Decided that it was best not to question the former Fairy Tail's mage, especially with the situation they were in, Wendy simply nods and follows closely behind him, keeping a constant vigil while doing so.

"Where are we going?", she asks they walk through the alleyways, Laxus keeping a roving watch as Wendy notice his arm surging with electricity and his body was tense as if he was expecting an attack at any moment.

"Quiet", was Laxus only response as he peaks his head around the corner and Wendy notices that his posture went lax as he lets out a slight chuckle, "Looks like he burn himself out."

"Who?", Wendy says as she looks around the corner and her eyes instantly widen, "Romeo!"

Laying there, face down in the middle of the road unconscious was the purple-hair fire-mage of Fairy Tail. He was no longer burning and but he was also barely breathing.

**Near the City Hall**

"Ugh!", Totomaru groans as he kicks violently into the brick wall of the city hall building, the impact resounded across the entire structure and causing a few windows to shatter from the hit.

"Well, well, well, today must be my lucky day", Erigor sneers as he uses his scythe to lift up the chin of the badly injure Rainbow Fire teacher so that he's looking up into his sadistic eyes, "First I escape from prison, then that student of yours chases away that lightning fellow, and finally, I get to enact my long-awaited payback on you."

"Will you hurry up and finish him off?!", Cobra snaps from way behind as he continues keeping a lookout, "I would like to get out of town now and if you're going to take your time, I'm just going to leave your ass behind!"

"Alright, alright, I'm hurrying", Erigor gripes, "All I want to do is savor the moment. Surely, you would do the same if you were in my position, flamey?"

A glob of spit in his eye was the reply from Totomaru, " If I was in your position, I wouldn't have needed a someone else to help me gang up on you."

"Hey, what can I say?", as Erigor wipes the spit, "Only an idiot fights a fair fight", as he raises the scythe up, "See you in hell!"

"It would seem that we have found two of the wanted criminals!", a voice rings out from on top of the city hall building, prompting both Cobra and Erigor to look up and see a lone figure standing there while in a flamboyant yet stylish posture. Due to the position of the sun behind the figure, neither Erigor nor Cobra were able to make out his face, "We shall apprehend them in the name of the Magic Council!"

"Who the hell are you?!", Cobra barks as he readies himself for a fight, "Another Rune Knight lackey come to die?!"

"Hmph! It would seem that you are one of the few who does not know of my shining brilliance! Allow me to show you!", the figures declare.

"Ha! Like you'll get the chance!  **Poison Dragon's Roar!",** as Cobra unleashes a poisonous stream from his mouth at the figure on the roof.

"Dragon-Slayer magic these days is wasted on the untalented. Luckily for you, I order by the Magic Council to bring you in alive, if possible", the figure griefs as he takes a breath of his own, " **Gale Dragon's Song of the Wind and Moon**!"

**Outside of Tyure**

"Wow, this trip was almost worth my time coming out", said the same cloak figure that trap Wendy and fought with Romeo on top of a hill that overlook the town as he watches a tremendous formation of swirling winds rip through the heart of the town, scattering buildings away like they were cardboard, "I mean, at least I got to see God Serena's power with my own eyes and that lightning dude seem likes he could provide me with a good time."

A breeze blows by and a smaller cloak figure magically appears alongside him.

"Uwa, it's time to go", the figure says in a feminine voice, "The Elder is waiting for your report."

"Already? Someone's impatience", Uwa states as he looks out upon the destruction of the town, "Guess it's for the best, not much going on here now. Let's go, Gwynt."

"Very well", Gwynt says as a slender hand appears out of the cloak and grabs onto Uwa's arm.

"I"m surprised that you're so willing to just up and leave, even though he is so close by. You could literally go see him right now, I won't tell anyone", Uwa says with a hidden smirk.

The hand on his arm suddenly stiffen and the way that Gwynt's hidden head was pointing downward made it seem like that the girl was seriously thinking about doing that.

"The Elder hasn't ordered me to observe him and therefore I won't", Gwynt finally said.

"But that didn't stop you with the train, did it?", Uwa pointed out causing Gwynt to visible stiffen in response.

"But-how did you?"

"I have my ways; let's just leave it at that. Now let's be off", Uwa shrugs as his voice took on a mocking tone, "The Elder is waiting."

Gwynt slowly nods and a moment later, both figures disappear out of sight with the breeze.

**On the immediate outskirts of Tyure**

The Magic Bomber Christina landed on the edge of Tyure, just outside its walls. The main doors had barely opened up before a black streak with a mix of pink and white ran through them and into the town.

"Chelia! Where are you going?!", Sherry calls out to her as she and the rest of the Lamia Scale members ran after her, leaving behind the Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus members.

"Well….that was interesting", Jet commented before looking over at Macao, "It's obvious that Chelia's going to look for Romeo because she's worried about him, why do you seem so calm?"

Macao looks over his shoulder at Jet, "Trust me, I am worried sick right now. But while we were in transit here, Master Makarov and I were in constant communication with the Rune Knights via the Magic Bomber's comm lacrima and we were told upon landing that Romeo, Wendy, Totomaru, and Laxus, were taken to the local hospital. Romeo is unconscious but other than that he's fine, while Wendy and Laxus are able to move under their own power while Totomaru is being carried to the hospital by the Rune Knights", Macao explain to which everyone gives him a wide-eyed expression.

"Holy crap, that is so responsible of you, I almost thought you were a different person!", Lisanna stated, receiving nods from everyone present.

"I should remind you that I have been the guild master for over seven years!", Macao says, "And that I'm a responsible father!"

"Only because you were in the guild the longest at that time, you won by default and a coin toss ", Wakaba murmur to himself while remembering that he should have chosen heads over tails that day, while Master Makarov, who was standing next to him and clearly heard him, could only shake his head.

" _Can't believe the title of guild master came down to a coin flip",_ he thought before turning to the rest of the group, "Alright, everyone, listen up! While Macao, Bob, and myself, head over to the hospital, the rest of you are going to search the rest of the town for injured survivors along with making sure there are no more dark mages about!

"One second there, old man", Gajeel interrupts with barely conceal fury while an emotional Juvia is beside him with tears falling down her face, "Me and rain girl are going to head over to the hospital to check up on Totomaru and make sure he's alright."

"I need you here assisting everyone else", Master Makarov firmly stated.

"Salamander and his crew can handle things from here and you got all these others cats as well", Gajeel counter while pointing toward the others, "Pantherlily can go with them if you still think they need help, but Totomaru is one of the only few guys from Phantom Lord beside us who went straight after the disbandment and I'm going to make sure that dumbass gets an earful from me."

Makarov observe Gajeel and Juvia's body language, taking in Juvia's concern stance along with Gajeel constantly flexing his fingers.

"Very well, go see to your friend. But if you should come across anymore dark guild mages, be sure to stop them from causing trouble, understand?", Makarov relents.

"You got it, old man", and the two former aces of Phantom Lord depart and made their way toward the hospital through the ruins of Tyure.

**Through the ruins of Tyure**

"Chelia, get back here!", Sherry screams as she tries to keep up with her cousin, who was literally leaving a trail of dust as she ran through the destroyed streets of Tyure, "We don't know if there are still dark mages around!"

But Chelia ignore her cousin's advice as she frantically scans the destroy buildings and streets for any signs of her boyfriend, "Romeo! Romeo, where are you?!"

She was about to take off running again when a solid wall of rock appears in front of her, blocking her progress. She turns around to see her cousin alongside the rest of the Lamia Scale's aces coming toward her.

"How did you ya'll catch up with me?", Chelia question, "When I'm using my magic to boost my speed, I put that Jet guy to shame."

"Jura-sama moved the earth underneath us once we started losing sight of you", Lyon explains as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Chelia, I would advise that you take a deep breath and clear your mind", Jura says as he walks up next to her, "Like your cousin said, we have no idea if there are more dark mages in the area and we should be on guard."

"But Romeo-", Chelia started before she was stopped by Jura raising a hand up.

"I'm sure the boy is fine. You and I both know that Romeo is capable of handling himself and besides he had Wendy and Makarov's grandson with him as well", Jura explain before looking around and spotting a Rune Knight patrol, "You there, Sergeant!"

The man leading the patrol turns around at the sound of his rank and spots Jura waving over at him. Hurrying over with his squad following behind him, he stops in front of the Saint Wizard and salutes.

"Sergeant Billod, at your service, Wizard Saint Jura-sama!"

"Yes, yes. Sergeant, I am looking for a couple of our guild's allies that were caught up in the fighting. One is a teenage boy with short purple hair and the other is a teenage girl with long blue hair. They should both be sporting the Fairy Tail insignia", Jura explain.

The Sergeant racks his mind for a moment before realizing something, "Yes sir, I receive a report a while ago via lacrima that two teenagers matching your description were indeed taken to the local hospital by a tall, blonde, muscular man, who is believed to be Laxus Dreyar, after the area was secure! I believe the hospital is that way", the man points to the east and is surprised when a storm of dust is suddenly blown into his face as Chelia sprints off in that direction.

"She has a hard time listening", Sherry groans while Yuka merely smiles.

"At least she's putting her training to good use, she's going even faster now", the Anti-Magic mage jokes, promptly ignoring the glare that was being sent his way.

"What was the status of those Fairy Tail mages, Sergeant?", Jura asks, hoping to defuse the situation before Sherry tries to strangle Yuka...again, " _She still hasn't fully forgiven him for that time he accidentally walked in on her showering at the guild hall."_

"Sir, at the last report, the girl was up and about assisting the hospital staff, while the boy was deemed okay, he's just unconscious. The man who brought them in was last seen sitting in the lodge!"

"Thank you, Sergeant", Jura says as he begins to conjure up a rock snake for the group to ride on top of in an effort to catch up with the speeding God-Slayer, meanwhile Lyon receives a call on his communication lacrima.

"Hey, quick question", Toby pipes up at Sergeant Billod while all this was going on, "How is it that in a city this sizes and the hospitals no doubt pack full, that you were able to find Romeo and his friends so quickly?"

"From the reports I receive upon entering Tyure, it would seem that that group was instrumental in aiding our wounded soldiers as well as directing the fighting away from civilians. Wizard Saint Serena has taken a special interest in this group, particularly in Laxus Dreyar, and has ordered that a watchful eye be placed on them!"

"I see", Jura simply says, " _God Serena taking an interest in Laxus? This could only be one thing"_  before his thoughts are interrupted by Lyon finishing his call.

"That was Master Makarov; it would seem that they need someone to check the southern section of the city and we're the closest to it. Also, he asks if someone could calm down Chelia for her dust cloud is being seemed throughout the whole city and it's starting to worry some people."

"Alright then", Jura says as she looks toward Sherry, "My summon will take you to the hospital while the rest of us will patrol the southern area. Inform us of everyone's condition as soon as possible."

Sherry gives a quick nod climb onto the summon and watches as Jura, Lyon, Yuka, and Toby take off to the south. Sherry looks back eastward at the dust cloud that her younger cousin was leaving behind and shakes her head in embarrassment, "Was I this bad when I had a thing for Lyon?"

**Tyure's Hospital**

Chelia skids to a halt in front of the three-story hospital, kicking up a dust storm that nearly blinds the sentries that were posted at the entrance.

"I hope Romeo, okay", Chelia says right before berate herself for not asking that Rune Knight about Romeo's status, there was a good chance he might have known or at least call someone who did.

" _No time for that now though_ ", Chelia thought, " _Time for me to get in there and find my little firefly,_ as she stomps her way to the front doors of the building only to be grab and taken to the side by her cousin.

"Chelia, could I talk to you for a moment?", Sherry forcibly asks as she threw her arm around Chelia's shoulder and gave it an almost crushing squeeze, "What exactly were you planning to do just now?

Chelia cringe a little under the glare Sherry was giving her along with the deadly grip on her shoulder, "I-I was planning on going in there and finding...", Chelia glances around and notices that the rest of the guild's aces were nowhere to be seen. In fact, all she saw was a pile of rocks nearby.

"Wait a minute, how did you catch up to me this time?"

"Got drop off by Jura's giant rock snake,  _wow, that sounded dirty_ , but that's not important right now. But what is important is the fact that you, a mage with healing magic, was going to walk into a hospital, possibly pack to the brim with wounded, and walk by them all in an effort to find Romeo. I wonder how people will take that?", Sherry explain.

"Are you trying to use this as a publicity stunt?", Chelia gasps, "Sherry, what has come over -"

"Do I look like Charlie to you?", Sherry nearly snaps, "Do I look like the person who try to take over every aspect of your life and almost made you quit your dream of being a famous singer?"

"Sherry, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that", Chelia said, now sadden by the fact that she compared her only living relative to the man who use to be her agent.

"Look, I'll find Romeo for you while you see if you can give the medical staff a hand. After you ran off, the Rune Knight sergeant inform us that he also receive a report stating that Romeo was okay. Unconscious, but okay", Sherry told her.

" _Knew I should have ask",_ Chelia told herself.

"Jura and the others are currently patrolling around the area to make sure its safe, along with the majority of Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus. Everyone else is doing their part here and so should you. Apparently, even Wendy is assisting the staff with the wounded.", Sherry explains as she led Chelia into the hospital.

Burning, sweating, boiling, blistering.

Everywhere he looked he was encircled by the endless burning abyssan a infinite plain of raging infernos as far as the eye could see that illuminate the pitch darkness like a campfire in the night. Soon the smell of burning flesh stung his nostrils while the smoke and ash began to blind him. Through his blur vision, he looks down at the ground and saw that it nothing more than a floor of ever moving flatten flames, glowing brighter than the streetlights of Magnolia. The very air was ripple with intense heat and Romeo wonder why he hasn't been cook yet.

"Where am I?", Romeo says aloud, only to barely hear himself over the roar of the flames as suddenly they start to circle around him, forming into a dome that blocks all possible routes of escape. Romeo could feel the very breath in his lungs burning, scorching his inside. Then the dome began to shrink, growing smaller and smaller with each passing moment until Romeo was forced to curl up into a ball in an effort to prolong his life, if only for a few more seconds.

But just as the fiery dome's walls were about to touch Romeo's skin, they stop, and a moment later, expanded outwards at a rapid pace, extinguishing all of the other fires in their path as they went, until only pitch darkness remains.

"What's going on?", he ask right before a fire erupts in front of him and Romeo was able to make out a silhouette within the flames. Before he could get a good look at it, a piercing scream blasts his ears.

Romeo awoke with a shout as he bolts straight up.

"What the heck?", he says as he finally notices that he was inside of what look to be a hospital room, with the white bedding and everything. He also notices that he was in a room by himself.

"When did I get here?", he says aloud before lying back down while he tries to remember all that has transpire.

" _I was in a burning building and I was impaled through the gut. I know I didn't imagine that the pain was real enough, so what happened?",_ as his mind drifted off the nightmare he awoke from, " _Was I in hell? Why wasn't I burn? Who was that person?"_

The opening of the door snaps Romeo out of his thoughts and he turns to see Wendy peaking her head into the room.

"Romeo! You're okay!", she says as she bursts into the room and quickly crosses the distance between her and the bed.

"Yeah, I am. But what happens Wendy -dufghdhkdgs!", as he is engulfed in a full-blown bear-hug by the Sky Dragon-Slayer. It was in that moment though that Wendy forgot that while she wasn't on the same level of strength as the other known dragon-slayers, she was still pretty strong for a thirteen-year-old girl. It took the sound of a couple breaking bones to remind her of that….Romeo's howl of pain might have had something to do with it as well.

**Elsewhere in the Hospital**

"Excuse me, could you help me find someone?".

Doctor Yuiara sigh inwardly as she scratches her short ocean blue hair and took the cigarette out of her mouth that she was going to light once she got outside. This would be the fifteenth someone who has walk up to her today and ask if she knew where a particular person was. As she began to turn around to face whoever tap her on the shoulder, she couldn't help but remember that today suppose to be her day-off after working for six weeks straight, but nooooo, a couple of dark guild mages decided that they had to pick Tyure to go frolicking around in on this particular day. She still had a month to go before her vacation in the capital, but the way things were going, even that might be cancel and the constant questions weren't helping.

" _There are over forty thousand people in Tyure and only two hospitals and the other one got destroy in the attack! I don't know why everyone thinks that I know where every single person in this building is at or if they're even still alive!",_ as she finally came face-to-face with a voluptuous, pink haired woman who was wearing the type of clothes that Yuiara wish she had the body to fill out, "I'll help you to the best of my ability, but I can't guarantee anything. Now, who exactly are you looking for miss…..?"

"Sherry and I'm looking for a teenage boy with dark purple spike hair and black eyes with a guild insignia on his left shoulder", Sherry explain.

Yuiara opens her mouth to give Sherry the same answer she has been giving to everyone over the past couple of hours when she stop herself, "The boy has a Fairy Tail insignia and wears a body-length vest with a orange scarf around his neck….?"

"And a bandage wrap around his left arm", Sherry concluded, "Yes, that's who I'm looking for!"

"Are you a relative of his by chance?", Yuiara ask.

"No, but my cousin is a good friend of his and she is worried sick about him", Sherry answer.

"He's on the third floor in room 109", Yuiara started as she scratches her chin while remembering the details of her encounter with him, "His case was….unusual."

Sherry raises an eyebrow at this, "Unusual how?"

"He came in with two more people, a blue-hair girl around his age and an older blonde male, and both of them said that he was involved in the fighting with the wanted criminals, a few wounded Rune Knights also back up this claim", Yuiara explain.

"What's so weird about that?", Sherry wonder.

"It's the fact that he didn't have a single scratch on him when I examine him, he was just unconscious", Yuiara went on, "Now I don't pay as much attention to magic guilds as I use to back when I was younger, but I'm pretty sure that the average mage doesn't come out of a battle of this scope without some sort of injury."

Sherry ponders Yuiara's words for a moment, "Well, that does sound-"

" **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**!", pierces through the hallways of the building as both Sherry and Yuiara look upward at the direction the scream came from.

"That's coming from the third floor", Yuiara guess before she looks back at Sherry, only to see the woman sprinting away from her and up the stairs, "Damn, she fast. Guess I better go see-"

"Doctor Yuiara!", a nearby nurse calls out from the front entrance, "We got heavily wounded here and all of the others doctors got their hands full!"

" _A doctor's work is never done",_ Yuiara sighs before races off to assist.

**Break**

"Wow, here I thought I was having the worst day ever after being attack by Erigor, but now here I am being healed by none other than Chelia Blendy", the rune knight gush as he lay in bed while the Sky God Slayer use her magic to heal his torso wound, "Can I get a autograph and a picture after this?"

"Of course you can", Chelia smile, though she was a little creep out by the heart-shaped eyes look the guy was giving her, "Though it will have to be after I'm done healing the rest of your squad."

"Ah shuck, they can wait. The doctor already cleared us as non-fatal."

" _Realllllly hope Sherry finds Romeo soon",_ Chelia tells herself while still smiling.

" **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**!", rocks the hospital, causing everyone to jump in fright.

"Damn! Sounds like someone having a worse day then-", the rune knight said before a cloud of dust is kicked up into his face and after he recovers from the hacking fit it causes, he was surprised to see that the famous pop idol had vanished from his sight.

"Where she go?"

"Romeo!", Chelia cried as she bolted up the stairs to the last floor from wench the scream came from. She easily recognizes the scream as her little firefly for it sounded exactly like the one he made when Jura accidentally crush his foot underneath a large rock while the two of them were training a few months ago. Of course, she heals him up, but Jura had to knock him out first so he stops screaming.

As she rounds the corner onto the third floor, she picks up the sound of someone profusely apologizing while also sensing magic being used not that much different than hers. Both of them were emitting from the third door on the left and as she came into the doorway and look inside, her whole world stop.

"Wow….I...need...to start going back on….jobs", Sherry huffs as she exits the stairs and came out on the third floor, leaning on the wall for support, "B _eing Chelia's agent has gotten me a bit out of shape. Wish I could use the floor and walls to construct up something to carry me, but I would have to answer to Master Ooba about the damages._  "

She combs the area around her, searching for the source of the scream, "That sounded exactly like the scream Romeo made when Jura-sama accidentally crush his foot a while back, no doubt about th-", she stops as her eyes fall upon the frozen figure of her cousin, who was currently standing in a doorway.

"Chelia, there you are", Sherry shouted as she began to move over to her, "I think I may have found Romeo and if we're lucky...he...not...too...hurt?", as she got closer to Chelia and realize that she has yet to acknowledge her presence. Sherry briefly glances into the nearly empty room and sees that Wendy was using her healing magic on a bed-ridden Romeo.

" _Didn't the doctor say that Romeo had no wounds?",_ Sherry thought before returning her attention back to Chelia.

"Sherria, are you okay?", Sherry asks using Chelia original name from their homeland of Isvan, not the one that everyone else uses, which was just a Fioran translation of it, (Sherry was lucky, her name was common in this part of the world, so there was no need for a change). She only used it when they were alone and she was worry about her.

Hearing her original Isvanian name seem to be enough to shake Chelia out of her thoughts as she lightly shakes her head and turns to look at Sherry, "I'm sorry, were you talking to me?"

"You okay there? The fact Romeo that is only a couple of feet away and yet you haven't pounce him yet frightens me a little", Sherry teases, "I thought you were sick or something."

"You're hilarious, Sherry, a real riot", Chelia joke back, "I'm sure if that was Ren over there in that bed, I would have to block off the area from small children; wouldn't want to have to explain to them all the strange noises that would be coming from this room", she retaliate and smile as she watches in satisfaction as her only surviving relative face starts to glow red.

"Wait...y-you mean-", Sherry stutters, doing her best to form a complete sentence

"Your room isn't as soundproof as you like to believe and while I'm still a maiden, I'm not naive", Chelia explains as she walks away, leaving a stammering Sherry in her wake.

"I-I-I- thought we were being careful", Sherry tells herself.

The scent of lavender flowers fills Romeo's nostrils and tips him off to Chelia's presence, who he sees practically skipping over to him and Wendy with a smile plaster on her face.

"Chelia, you're here!", Romeo says would more excitement in his voice than he would ever care to admit, but as he leans up to greet her, a sharp pain coursed through his lower body, forcing him back down in the bed. This instantly causes his girlfriend to appear alongside Wendy and apply her own healing magic.

"What happened to you, my little firefly?", Chelia ask.

Romeo opens up his mouth to say something but then notices the slight panic look on Wendy's face and decide against it, "Took a few hits from some lizardmen", he lies.

"Awwww, my little firefly is so brave and dashing!", Chelia gushes, much to Romeo's embarrassment.

"Please stop that", he mutters, only to be ignored.

"Hey Wendy", Chelia starts to say as she continued looking down at the area where she was applying her healing magic, "I can handle Romeo from here; why don't you go get some rest or see if the rest of the staff needs help?"

"No, thank you", she replies without looking up, "I think I'll stay here until Romeo is feeling better."

….

…..

…...

Silence fills the air as the only sound for a moment was the humming of both girls' magic being used.

"Oh", was Chelia only reply as she turns slowly to look at Wendy, "Okay."

" ** _Who does this girl think she is, pushing her luck like this? Only_ _you_   _are allowed_** _ **to heal Romeo! You**!", _ came a voice that was full of venom and malice.

Chelia's eyes widen in surprise as she started taking quick glances around the room. For a split second, it sounded like the voice was coming directly from behind her.

" _What was that?",_ she tells herself before looking down at Romeo, whose eyes were closes, "Do you hear that?"

"Did I hear what?", the boy response.

"Do you hear anything?", Chelia now turns to Wendy.

"I didn't hear a thing", Wendy answers.

Chelia's face contorts into a confused expression, "Sworn I heard something."

"I think you may be more tired then you're letting on", Romeo tells her as he opens his left eye to look at her, "Maybe you need to lay down."

"Maybe I do, it has been a long day", Chelia agrees before a thought comes to her head and a sly grin forms on her lips.

"Oh no", Romeo frets, the meaning of his words finally dawning on him.

"Any chance I could lay down next to ~you~?", Chelia asks as she bats her eyelashes.

"No!", Romeo immediately answers as he tries to back away as far as he can.

"Awww, why not?", Chelia complains as she and Romeo go back and forth with their couple banters while Wendy just sits there doing nothing more then letting out a nervous laugh.

Meanwhile, Sherry was still standing at the doorway with a terrified expression on her face, her knees shaking violently, and she was breathing at a rapid pace. She had to use one hand to lean on the door-frame to keep herself from falling to the ground while the other clench her rapidly beating heart in an effort to calm it after the horrible spectacle she just witnessed.

" _What ….was that I saw just now?",_ she asks herself as she remembers that only moments ago, she briefly saw a change in her little cousin's demeanor. When Sherry heard Wendy politely tell Chelia that she was going to stay behind and help heal Romeo, a murderous look flash across Chelia's face a second later, directed at the blue-haired girl. Chelia's pink hair suddenly cover up her left eye while the expose right one held a glaze so cold that it sends shivers that Sherry's spine, reminding her of all the harsh winters she used to experience in Isvan when she was a little girl. It was devoid of life and warmth, instead fill to the brim with coldness and hatred. One moment it was there, the next moment it was gone and then Sherry witness Chelia looking around the room with a baffled look on her face.

"What's… _._ _what's_ _going on here?",_ Sherry asks herself, as she continues to keep a close eye on the three teenagers, especially the oldest one, " _A better question; why did that look_ _feel_ _so familiar?"_

**_In the lower levels of the hospital_ **

"Well, it looks like you'll make a full recovery", Yuiara told her patient, "Just apply the ointment twice a day to the wounded area for a week and you'll be up and about in no time, Mr. Totomaru."

"Thank you, doctor", Totomaru says as he looks up at her from his position on the hospital bed, "I very much appreciated it."

"Well, if you're ever in Tyure, stop by my office for lunch or something", she jokes, as she usually did with her patients.

"I may do that", Totomaru reply with a smile, causing a sweat-drop to appear on Yuiara as she let out a nervous laugh, "Also, I may have to come to Tyure more often."

" _Please tell me_ _he's joking! I was joking, right?!",_ Yuiara thought. It not like she wasn't on the market or anything, it's just that her job took up too much of her time, and she didn't have time for dating, " _Though I will admit, he is handsome, in a rough-looking sort of way. Stop it, Yuiara!"_

Totomaru found himself lost in the golden eyes of the female doctor standing in front of him. She was the one that treated his wounds when the Rune Knights first brought him through the doors seeing how all the other staff had their hands full with the rest of the injured, and he found himself quite attracted to her. His social life was….not on the level he thought it would be this age, with most of his life focus around his school and his only real friends being Juvia and Gajeel. Even back in the days of Phantom Lord, he only really talks to those two and despite what most people believe, both the water mage and the Iron Dragon-Slayer were approachable if you had the patience for their antics and their personalities.

But before he could give any more thoughts about the past, the door to the room he was currently staying in was kicked open and a booming voice fills the air.

"So this is where your dumbass has been!", Gajeel screams out as he enters the room, followed by a distraught looking Juvia, "Your ass has got some explaining to do!"

Totomaru lets out a sigh in slight annoyance before looking at a shock Yuiara, "Dr. Yuiara, if you would excuse me, I'm afraid a few of my colleagues would like to have a word with me."

Yuiara looks between Totomaru and the two visitors before deciding that it was best that she didn't get involved, "I'll leave you to it then", and walks pass Gajeel and Juvia and out the door.

"Oh Totomaru-kun!", Juvia cries as she somehow leaps across the room and entraps the older Rainbow Fire mage in a fierce hug, "Juvia-chan was so worried when she heard the news about your fight!"

"I assure you Juvia, I'm fine; there is no need for you to flood the hospital", Totomaru tells her as he notices the small river that was streaming out of the water mage's eyes and onto the floor and out the door. The sound of someone slipping and crashing to the ground echoes throughout the building a few seconds later.

"You wouldn't be in this state if  **someone**  would have remembered the mistakes he made in the past along with his own limitations!", Gajeel growls.

Totomaru momentarily turns away from the bawling Juvia and at the seething dragon-slayer, "I assume you are referring to my battle with Erigor."

"You damn right I'm talking about your battle with that scythe-wielding wind freak!", Gajeel explosive, causing the people outside in the hallways to jump away in fright, "What were you thinking taking him on?!"

"I was thinking that I was trying to save one of my former student's life", Totomaru reply, "Romeo was losing the battle against him and I intervene to protect him."

"Well that's all fine and noble of you", Gajeel sneer as he got in Totomaru's face, "But the trick to taking over a fight for someone is that you have to be able to defeat the guy that they were fighting in the first place! Did you forget what happened on those years ago?! Did you forget how you got that scar or that fact that the only reason you survive that fight was that I happen to be in the area that night?!"

"Trust me, Gajeel, I am fully aware and thankfully for your contributions that night", Totomaru stated, before holding up a hand to stop Gajeel from going on with his rant, "But before we continue on with my mistakes, there's something you two need to know. I was going to tell you once I got back in the area of Magnolia, but since you're here now..."

"Yeah, and what's that?", Gajeel asks as he crosses his arms.

"The other day I had some...visitors stop by my school after everyone else had gone home", Totomaru started.

"What kind of visitors?", Juvia wonders now that her bawling had ceased.

Totomaru hesitated for a moment before pressing on….

"It was Master Jose, along with Sol and Aria. They came to me with a…. proposition of sorts."

Gajeel and Juvia's eyes widen in shock upon hearing the names of their old guild master and their former colleagues.

"What the hell did they want?", Gajeel asks.

"I'm sure whatever they wanted must be important to the three of you", a new voice said from the doorway and everyone turns to see a disgruntled Laxus standing menacingly behind them, " But before you guys get to that, I have a few questions I like to ask your friend here; namely about the lacrima the guild master's brat has inside of him."

**A/N: More questions will be answered and like I said, maybe more character development. Also, while Romeo is stronger than his canon counterparts, that doesn't mean he can take on the likes of Laxus, even if he is in a berserk-like state. Please Review, Fav, or Follow if you want.**

_**Fire Phoenix's Screech:** _ _**Unlike Fire Dragon's Roar, this breath attack lacks distance but makes up for it in power, almost like it's a condense form of it. Instead of a straight line shot, the flames instead form a fiery dome around the person using the spell which covers a radius of about five to ten feet. Besides burning the ones caught within its vortex, it also forces them back a good distance from them, thus giving the user some breathing room.** _


End file.
